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Stock markets moved in different directions on Tuesday with traders’ attention fixed on President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans, earnings updates and inflation data.A report suggesting Trump could impose import tariffs more slowly than initially feared provided support and put a cap on the dollar’s latest surge.However, traders remain concerned that his pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration will revive inflation.Traders have slashed their expectations on how many times the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates through 2025 to one.But some fear the Fed’s next move could even be a rate hike owing to still-sticky inflation and concerns over Trump’s policies.Data on Tuesday showed US wholesale inflation for December was lower than expected, with no change in the Producer Price Index over the month when volatile food and energy prices are excluded. Wall Street’s three main indexes all opened higher, but failed to hold onto their early gains, with a rise in US bond yields dragging on sentiment.Investors will be paying more attention to US and UK consumer price inflation data due on Wednesday.”With rate expectations now the driving force behind market moves, key inflation data midweek will continue to shape the narrative for the early parts of 2025,” noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.In Europe, Frankfurt and Paris finished the day with gains but London slipped.In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as China’s securities regulator said it was looking at ways to provide more stability to markets.This followed another run of poor performances sparked by worries over the world number two economy and Trump’s threatened tariffs.- Dollar mixed -The dollar traded mixed against major peers Tuesday after Bloomberg reported that members of Trump’s team were looking at an initially limited increase in tariffs to boost their negotiating hand and tamper inflationary pressures.Traders had been spooked when he said soon after his re-election that he would impose huge levies on China, Canada and Mexico as soon as he took office.The pound remained stuck close to lows not seen since the end of 2023. The euro was near its weakest since late 2022, with fears it could return to parity with the dollar.The yen edged up against the greenback as the yield of Japan’s 40-year government bond hit its highest since being launched in 2007, with debate returning to whether the country’s central bank will hike interest rates at next week’s policy meeting.Eyes were also on earnings. In London, shares in retailer JD Sports slumped 6.4 percent after it warned on profits. Energy giant BP shed 2.5 percent on a weak trading update, capping gains on the benchmark FTSE 100 index.On the upside, Paris was lifted by rising share prices of French banks. “This earnings season will set the tone for financial stocks in 2025, but the stakes are high,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.”Even with solid fourth-quarter results, the macro backdrop — characterised by lingering inflation concerns, steeper yields, and recalibrated Fed expectations — may weigh on sentiment.”- Key figures around 1630 GMT -New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 42,335.87 pointsNew York – S&P: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 5,834.16New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 19,070.14London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,201.54 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,423.67 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 20,271.33 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 38,474.30 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.8 percent at 19,219.78 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.5 percent at 3,240.94 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0289 from $1.0224 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2195 from $1.2180Dollar/yen: UP at 158.05 yen from 157.65 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.36 pence from 83.90 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $76.81 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $80.51 per barrelburs-rl/gv

US flags will fly at full-staff at the Capitol during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, the leader of the House of Representatives announced Tuesday, after he complained about having them lowered to honor late president Jimmy Carter.The flags were ordered to be at half-staff for the 30 days following Carter’s death on December 29 but Trump took to his social media to accuse Democrats of being “giddy” about the solemn tribute because “they don’t love our country.”President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded by insisting the White House would not reverse the plan but Mike Johnson, who leads the ultra-loyal Republican majority as speaker of the House, relented. “On January 20, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump,” Johnson said in a statement.”The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter,” he added.Pictures shared on social media and purported to have been taken Monday showed a US flag flying at full-staff at Trump’s oceanfront Mar-a-Lago estate in southern Florida.Carter, the 39th president, was 100 when he died, making him the longest-lived president in the nation’s history. A 1950s presidential proclamation states that, for a sitting or former president, flags will be lowered on all federal buildings for 30 days. 

Confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees kicked off Tuesday with his controversial Pentagon pick, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host dogged by sexual assault allegations and no experience leading large organizations.Senate Republicans are keen for Trump’s national security nominees to be confirmed quickly and Democrats may agree to fast-track some. But they are determined to throw up roadblocks in front of candidates they see as unfit.Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, has argued that US military effectiveness has been undermined by efforts aimed at promoting diversity in the ranks, and has said that women should not serve in combat.”When President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense,” Hegseth said at the opening of his confirmation hearing.”He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfighting, accountability, and readiness,” he said in remarks interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.Democrats on the committee have highlighted major concerns about Hegseth, from his personal conduct to his ability to lead the Pentagon, a massive bureaucracy that employs more than three million people.Senator Jack Reed — the committee’s ranking Democrat — put it bluntly in his opening statement: “Mr Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.””We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you. A variety of sources — including your own writings — implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues,” Reed said.- More fiery hearings -Asked by Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the committee chair, about allegations Hegseth has faced, he claimed there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him.”I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” Hegseth said.He can only afford three Republican rejections and still be confirmed, should every Democrat and independent vote against him.But he has maintained Trump’s support while the excoriating headlines have multiplied, and Senate Republicans appear open to hearing him out.Former Democratic congresswoman turned Trumpist Tulsi Gabbard, who was tapped for director of national intelligence, is another candidate whose lack of qualifications and experience have raised alarm bells, as well as her attitudes toward US adversaries.Gabbard met then Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and declared him “not the enemy.” She has also voiced sympathy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Opposition appears to be softening however after she flipped her stance to support a controversial government intelligence-gathering program that she tried to repeal in 2020. Some pressure on the nominees is expected from both sides of the aisle, especially for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services and an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist.But former Florida senator and foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is a sure bet with bipartisan support, and will likely be confirmed before Trump takes office on January 20.Rubio gets his hearing Wednesday, along with homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and CIA pick John Ratcliffe, who has been confirmed by the Senate before as director of national intelligence.Bondi was Trump’s second choice after his initial pick, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after facing sexual misconduct and drug allegations.Some of the most potentially fiery hearings are yet to be scheduled, including for Kennedy and Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to run the FBI.Patel — a conspiracy theorist who vowed in a podcast that Trump would “come after” journalists, lawyers and judges he believes haven’t treated him fairly — is not expected to get his confirmation hearing until February.

The United States finalized a rule Tuesday effectively barring Chinese technology from cars in the American market, taking aim at software and hardware from the world’s second biggest economy over national security risks.The announcement, which also pertains to Russian technology, comes as outgoing President Joe Biden wraps up efforts to step up curbs on China, and after a months-long regulatory process.The rule follows an announcement this month that Washington is mulling new restrictions to address risks posed by drones with tech from adversaries like China and Russia.”Cars today aren’t just steel on wheels — they’re computers,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.She noted that modern vehicles contain cameras, microphones, GPS tracking and other technologies connected to the internet.”This is a targeted approach to ensure we keep PRC and Russian-manufactured technologies off American roads,” she added, referring to the People’s Republic of China.The final rule currently applies just to passenger vehicles under 10,001 pounds, said the US Commerce Department.It plans, however, to issue separate rulemaking aimed at tech in commercial vehicles like trucks and buses “in the near future.”For now, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, for example, has a facility in California producing buses and other vehicles.National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard added that “China is trying to dominate the future of the auto industry.”But she said connected vehicles containing software and hardware systems linked to foreign rivals could result in misuse of sensitive data or interference.- ‘Nexus’ to China -Under the latest rule, even if a passenger car were US-made, manufacturers with “a sufficient nexus” to China or Russia will not be allowed to sell such new vehicles incorporating hardware and software for external connectivity and autonomous driving.This prohibition on sales takes effect for model year 2027.The restriction also bans the import of the hardware and software if they are linked to Beijing or Moscow.The software curbs take effect for model year 2027 while the hardware controls come into play for model year 2030.Just a day earlier, Washington announced fresh export rules on chips used for AI, furthering efforts to make it hard for China and other rivals to access the technology.The restrictions also tightened rules surrounding the sharing of cutting-edge AI models.Washington has expanded efforts in recent years to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in AI and weapons systems, as Beijing’s tech advancements spark concern among US policymakers.But the rollout of many plans will fall to incoming President-elect Donald Trump, whose return to the White House early next week promises a raft of changes to government policies.On Monday, Biden urged the Trump administration not to cede AI dominance to China.”We must not offshore artificial intelligence, as we once did with computer chips and other critical technologies,” Biden said in an address at the State Department.”We are in the lead, and we must stay in the lead,” he added, saying it should be Washington and its closest allies at the frontier of this technology.US efforts to restrict Chinese tech come as American officials work to boost its domestic industries as well.On Tuesday, Biden issued an executive order to accelerate the pace at which infrastructure for artificial intelligence development can be built in the country.”We will not let America be out-built when it comes to the technology that will define the future,” said Biden in a statement.But the US actions could attract Beijing’s retaliation, with the Chinese Commerce Ministry already calling Monday’s AI-related export curbs “a flagrant violation” of international trade rules.”China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry said.

Stock markets mostly rose Tuesday with traders’ attention fixed on President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans, earnings updates and upcoming inflation data.A report suggesting Trump could slowly hike import tariffs provided support and put a cap on the dollar’s latest surge.However, traders remain concerned that his pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration continue to dampen sentiment with warnings that the measures will revive inflation.Traders have slashed their expectations on how many times the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates through 2025 to one.But some fear the Fed’s next move could even be a rate hike owing to still-sticky inflation and concerns over Trump’s policies.Data on Tuesday showed US wholesale inflation for December was lower than expected, with no change in the Producer Price Index over the month when volatile food and energy prices are excluded. Wall Street’s three main indexes all opened higher.Investors will be paying more attention to US and UK consumer price inflation data due on Wednesday.”With rate expectations now the driving force behind market moves, key inflation data midweek will continue to shape the narrative for the early parts of 2025,” noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.European stock markets were mostly higher in afternoon trading.In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as China’s securities regulator said it was looking at ways to provide more stability to markets.This followed another run of poor performances sparked by worries over the world number two economy and Trump’s threatened tariffs.- Dollar mixed -The dollar traded mixed against major peers Tuesday after Bloomberg reported that members of Trump’s team were looking at a gradual increase in tariffs to boost their negotiating hand and tamper inflationary pressures.Traders were spooked when he said soon after his re-election that he would impose huge levies on China, Canada and Mexico as soon as he took office.The pound remained stuck close to levels not seen since the end of 2023. The euro was near its weakest since late 2022, with fears it could return to parity with the dollar.The yen edged up against the greenback as the yield of Japan’s 40-year government bond hit its highest since being launched in 2007, with debate returning to whether the country’s central bank will hike interest rates at next week’s policy meeting.Eyes were also on earnings. In London, shares in retailer JD Sports slumped 7.3 percent after it warned on profits. Energy giant BP shed 2.1 percent on a weak trading update, capping gains on the benchmark FTSE 100 index.On the upside, Paris was lifted by rising share prices of French banks. “This earnings season will set the tone for financial stocks in 2025, but the stakes are high,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.”Even with solid fourth-quarter results, the macro backdrop — characterised by lingering inflation concerns, steeper yields, and recalibrated Fed expectations — may weigh on sentiment.”- Key figures around 1430 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 42,473.55 pointsNew York – S&P: UP 0.5 percent at 5,863.70New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 19,212.80London – FTSE 100: UP less than 0.1 percent at 8,218.15Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,463.15Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 20,297.87Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 38,474.30 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.8 percent at 19,219.78 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.5 percent at 3,240.94 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0267 from $1.0224 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2158 from $1.2180Dollar/yen: UP at 157.79 yen from 157.65 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.44 pence from 83.90 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $76.78 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $80.42 per barrelburs-rl/lth

Furious at the prospect of a US government ban on social media platform TikTok, American users have flocked to another Chinese-owned app in droves, many with a defiant message: “Take my data!”TikTok has become another battleground showcasing China-US tensions, with President Joe Biden’s administration accusing the app of allowing Beijing to collect data and spy on users — claims denied by China and TikTok’s owner ByteDance. The United States passed a law last year forcing ByteDance to either sell the platform or shut it down by January 19.With that deadline looming, Xiaohongshu — a lifestyle-focussed Instagram-meets-Pinterest alternative — surged to the top of the Apple App Store downloads on Monday.The hashtag “tiktokrefugee” had more than 100 million views by Tuesday evening.”They are trying to ban TikTok because they said China is stealing information. They don’t ban any American company from stealing our information,” user penguinpepperpia, who has more than 264,000 TikTok followers, told AFP.  The content creator downloaded Xiaohongshu rather than return to US platforms such as Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, which they characterised as apps for “older people” that also “steal your personal information and sell it to other companies”. “That is why many Americans don’t care anymore and we would rather let China have our information,” said the user.Other “refugees” shared similar sentiments.New Xiaohongshu user Adham said in a video posted on Monday: “I know our government is a little bit racist, but Chinese people, I love you guys. I don’t care if you take my data. Take it.”- ‘Deliciously ironical’ –  The phenomenon showed how “foolish” the TikTok ban was, Milton Mueller, a professor at the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy who filed a brief in opposition of the ban to the US Supreme Court, told AFP. “It is deliciously ironical that the threat of a ban is backfiring so quickly, even before it is put into place,” he said.”It does seem as if the TikTok ban is pushing users towards other apps that have a much less clear division between the Chinese Communist Party and the app itself,” Duke University’s Robyn Caplan said.Neither Xiaohongshu or ByteDance commented on the situation when asked.What the phenomenon showed was that the Biden administration’s strategy towards Chinese technology of “small yard, high fence” was not effective, said the London School of Economic’s Meng Bingchun. “The yard keeps getting bigger, and the fence is leaky,” Meng said.”Worse still, in this case, those living within the fence can be migratory in the digital space.”- Short-term reaction? -Until Monday, Xiaohongshu — or RedNote in English — was popular primarily among Chinese-speaking users. It boasted 300 million monthly active users at the end of 2023. Unlike TikTok’s sister app Douyin or the micro-blogging site Weibo, Xiaohongshu skews heavily towards lifestyle content.It is seen as facing relatively less censorship than other platforms: users can be found posting LGBTQ content and discussing the merits of women remaining single, topics often considered sensitive in China.For “native” Xiaohongshu users on Monday, the influx of Americans was a head-scratcher but also provided an unexpected opportunity for cultural exchange.Some even asked for help with English homework.In public group chats on the platform, new users asked for translations of slang terms, as well as keywords to search for content they wanted.”It’s funny and ironic that the Americans and the Chinese are meeting online under the circumstance that the US government is banning TikTok… similar to what the Chinese government has been doing for ages to American apps,” 26-year-old Amanda Zhang told AFP. The part-time pet content creator, who studies in the United States, said she was worried the US government might move to ban Xiaohongshu too if it gained enough traction.It remains unclear what the long-term implications of the shift will be. Xiaohongshu’s main challenge to retaining these new users is translation, Caplan said. LSE’s Meng added: “My hunch is that what we are witnessing now is more of a short-term reaction than a long-term trend.”The question now is whether there will be a critical mass of these refugees to achieve the desired network effect for the platform, and whether Xiaohongshu will respond quickly enough to harness the new users.”

US President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted for his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election result if he hadn’t been re-elected four years later, said a report by then special counsel Jack Smith released early Tuesday.In a case that never went to trial, Trump, who returns to the White House on Monday, was accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.However, the US Department of Justice’s “view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind,” said the report, which was released after midnight.”Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the (Special Counsel’s) Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”The proceeding referred to in the charges was the session of Congress called to certify President Joe Biden’s election win that was violently attacked on January 6, 2021, by a mob of Trump’s supporters who stormed the US Capitol.Smith, who was special counsel appointed to investigate Trump, dropped the case after the Republican won November’s presidential election, citing the Justice Department’s policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.Trump, 78, hit back on his Truth Social platform soon after the report’s release, calling Smith “deranged”, and adding that he “was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his ‘boss’.””To show you how desperate Deranged Jack Smith is, he released his Fake findings at 1:00 A.M. in the morning,” Trump added in another post.Trump’s attorneys had earlier urged US Attorney General Merrick Garland not to release the report, calling the plan to disclose it “unlawful, undertaken in bad faith, and contrary to the public interest.”- ‘Change the results’ -Smith’s report details Trump’s alleged efforts to persuade state-level Republican lawmakers and leaders to “change the results” of the 2020 election.”Mr. Trump contacted state legislators and executives, pressured them with false claims of election fraud in their states, and urged them to take action to ignore the vote counts and change the results,” according to the report released by the Department of Justice.”Significantly, he made election claims only to state legislators and executives who shared his political affiliation and were his political supporters, and only in states that he had lost,” it said.In addition, the report alleges Trump and co-conspirators planned to organize individuals who would have served as his electors, if he had won the popular vote, in seven states where he lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — “and cause them to sign and send to Washington false certifications claiming to be the legitimate electors.”They ultimately “used the fraudulent certificates to try to obstruct the congressional certification proceeding,” the report says, adding that Trump had “engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort” to overturn the election results “in order to retain power.”The report says Trump’s untruths included dozens of demonstrably false claims that large numbers of ineligible voters, such as non-citizens, had cast ballots, and that voting machines had changed votes that had been for him.Trump, however, knew there was no fraud that would affect the election’s outcome and that he had lost, according to the report, in part because then vice-president Mike Pence and his advisers told him there was no evidence for his claims.The report says that, on January 2, 2021, days before election tallies would be certified, Trump called Georgia’s secretary of state and pushed him to “find 11,780 votes” — Biden’s margin of victory in the southern state.When the state official refuted Trump’s false claims, the then-president threatened him, the report says.Trump faces separate racketeering charges in Georgia over his efforts to subvert the election results in the state. That case will likely be frozen while he is in office.The special counsel office concluded that “Trump’s conduct violated several federal criminal statutes and that the admissible evidence would be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.”Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed another federal case against the former and future president last year — over Trump’s handling of top secret documents after leaving the White House — but charges are still pending against two of his former co-defendants.Smith left the justice department last week, days after submitting his final report as special counsel.In another case, a judge sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge on Friday for covering up hush money payments to a porn star despite the president-elect’s efforts to avoid becoming the first felon in the White House.

TikTok on Tuesday labeled as “pure fiction” a report that China is exploring a potential sale of the video-sharing platform’s US operations to billionaire Elon Musk as the firm faces an American law requiring imminent Chinese divestment.Citing anonymous people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News had earlier reported that Chinese officials were considering selling the company’s US operations to Musk’s social media platform X.The report outlined one scenario being discussed in Beijing where X would purchase TikTok from Chinese owner ByteDance and combine it with the platform formerly known as Twitter.”We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.The report estimated the value of TikTok’s US operations at between $40 billion and $50 billion.Although Musk is currently ranked as the world’s wealthiest person, Bloomberg said it was not clear how Musk could execute the transaction, or if he would need to sell other assets.The US Congress passed a law last year that requires ByteDance to either sell its wildly popular platform or shut it down. It goes into effect on Sunday — a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.The US government alleges TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda. China and ByteDance strongly deny the claims.TikTok has challenged the law, taking an appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on Friday.At the hearing, a majority of the conservative and liberal justices on the nine-member bench appeared skeptical of arguments by a lawyer for TikTok that forcing a sale was a violation of First Amendment free speech rights.Bloomberg characterized Beijing’s consideration of a possible Musk transaction as “still preliminary,” noting that Chinese officials have yet to reach a consensus on how to proceed.Musk is a close ally of Trump and is expected to play an influential role in Washington in the coming four years.He also runs electric car company Tesla, which has a major factory in China and counts the country as one of the automaker’s biggest markets.Trump has repeatedly threatened to enact new tariffs on Chinese goods, which would expand a trade war begun in his first term and which was largely upheld, and in some cases supplemented, by outgoing President Joe Biden.

Buckle up: Donald Trump returns to the White House next week for a second term that promises to be even more volatile — and hard-line — than his roller-coaster first presidency.Buoyed by his historic political comeback, the billionaire Republican has shown no sign of changing the bombastic style that shook the United States and the world from 2017 to 2021.”If you liked Trump One, you’re going to love Trump Two,” Peter Loge, the director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, told AFP.For all the talk of a more disciplined Trump, the 78-year-old — who will become the oldest person ever sworn in on January 20 — appears to be much the same mercurial figure as last time around.Before even setting foot back in the Oval Office, he has spoken of a new “golden age” even as he vows retribution against opponents and the media, and pledges the mass deportation of illegal migrants.Trump has also set off alarm bells around the globe, issuing outlandish territorial threats against US allies and stoking fears that he will throw Ukraine under the bus to win a peace deal with Russia.”Trump’s character is fundamentally the same,” said David Greenberg, professor of history and journalism at Rutgers University. “What we can expect to see is more of the unexpected.”- New normal – But if anything, Trump 2.0 is set to be even more powerful, and more extreme. A Trump presidency shocked many in 2016, but is now the new normal. Big tech and big business have rallied behind the man they largely shunned in his first term.Crucially Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and boss of the increasingly right-wing X social media platform, is at Trump’s side.”Everybody wants to be my friend,” the president-elect said in December.Many of the guardrails around Trump four years ago are gone, with diehard loyalists replacing the so-called “adults in the room” who tried to moderate his worst instincts.The Republican Party is firmly behind him in a way that wasn’t the case last time. The US House of Representatives and Senate are both in Republican hands — albeit with a tiny majority in the House — and few dare even murmur dissent.”Trumpism is the Republican Party today,” said Jon Rogowski of the University of Chicago, adding that Trump was now “more palatable to a wider range of the political spectrum.”Trump’s stunned critics have largely fallen mute during the transition. The once fervent accusations of “fascism” and authoritarianism have dimmed while even President Joe Biden, who described Trump as a “threat to democracy,” has toned down his rhetoric.Barely mentioned for now is the way Trump ended his first term — in disgrace after his election-denying supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 — or the fact that he will be the first convicted felon to be president.But former special counsel Jack Smith delivered a parting rebuke early Tuesday, in a report detailing Trump’s alleged criminal effort to overturn the 2020 election result that saw Biden win.The report said Trump would have been convicted at trial had Smith not dropped the case after the Republican was elected president in November last year.- ‘Professional wrestling’ -Trump will start his second term in a hurry, knowing that he’s limited to four more years — even if he has mused about a constitution-breaking third term.He is expected to sign around 100 executive actions in his first hours in office, possibly including pardons for some of the January 6 rioters.Trump’s first months are likely to focus on immigration and the economy, his electoral strong points, while Musk will lead efforts to gut the federal government.Trump has also picked an uncompromisingly controversial — and rich — cabinet, including the vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.On the world stage, Trump is more provocative than ever. He has refused to rule out military action against strategic Greenland and Panama, while threatening US trading partners and neighbors Canada and Mexico with huge tariffs.Conversely, Trump says he wants talks with the leaders of Russia and China, strongmen he has long openly admired.The question is just how seriously Trump’s threats should be taken.”A really good metaphor for President Trump is professional wrestling,” said Loge. “The point is not the sport, the point is the spectacle.”This time around, the world may be more ready to deal with him, Loge added. “In the first Trump administration people responded to the spectacle. This time we may be responding more to the sport.”

Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees go under the microscope in a frenzied week on Capitol Hill starting Tuesday, as US senators hold confirmation hearings that could make or break their political careers.Thirteen nominees will be grilled before 11 committees, and while many will sail through, others face controversies ranging from alleged sexual assault and heavy drinking to their relationships with dictators and vaccine skepticism.The Trump picks have been in stringent preparations, taking part in mock hearings and coaching on how to negotiate tough questions while still maintaining unswerving loyalty to the president-elect.”This time, people view the nominees as an extension of Donald Trump and his agenda,” Sean Spicer, Trump’s first White House spokesman, told CNN.”They’re not there to defend their own views. They’re there to defend Trump’s policies.” Senate Republicans are keen for Trump’s national security nominees to be confirmed quickly and Democrats may agree to fast-track some. But they are determined to throw up roadblocks in front of candidates they see as unfit.One of the first on the docket will be one of the most controversial — Pete Hegseth, the former Army National Guard officer and ex-Fox News host nominated for secretary of defense.Hegseth, whose hearing is on Tuesday morning, has faced allegations of sexual assault, financial misconduct and excessive drinking, and lingering questions over his views on women in the military. He also has no comparable management experience.Senator Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Armed Services Committee, described Hegseth as “a guy with a track record of being so drunk at work events that he needed to be carried out on multiple occasions.””Can we really count on calling Hegseth at 2AM to make life and death national security decisions? Nope,” she said on X.Hegseth can only afford three Republican rejections and still be confirmed, should every Democrat and independent vote against him.- Fiery hearings -But he has maintained Trump’s support while the excoriating headlines have multiplied and Senate Republicans appear open to hearing him out.Former Democratic congresswoman turned Trumpist Tulsi Gabbard is another candidate whose lack of qualifications and experience have raised alarm bells, as well as her attitudes toward US adversaries.Gabbard met then Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and declared him “not the enemy.” She has also voiced sympathy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Opposition appears to be softening however after she flipped her stance to support a controversial government intelligence-gathering program that she tried to repeal in 2020. Some pressure on the nominees is expected from both sides of the aisle, especially for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services and an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist.But former Florida senator and foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is a sure bet with bipartisan support, and will likely be confirmed before Trump takes office on January 20.Rubio gets his hearing Wednesday, along with homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and CIA pick John Ratcliffe, who has been confirmed by the Senate before, as director of national intelligence.Bondi was Trump’s second choice after his initial pick, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after facing sexual misconduct and drug-taking allegations.Some of the most potentially fiery hearings are yet to be scheduled, including for Kennedy and Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to run the FBI.Patel — a conspiracy theorist who vowed in a podcast that Trump would “come after” journalists, lawyers and judges he believes haven’t treated him fairly — is not expected to get his confirmation hearing until February.Early Tuesday, Trump’s team lost a bid to prevent the release of a report by then-special counsel Jack Smith detailing the incoming president’s alleged criminal effort to overturn the 2020 election result that saw Joe Biden win.The report said Trump would have been convicted at trial — had Smith not dropped the case after the Republican was elected president in November last year.