Donald Trump brutally sacks four White House staff in public firings
Donald Trump has wasted no time in getting to work after being sworn in as president on Monday (20 January), publicly sacking White House staff.
The 78-year-old's inauguration was not short of headlines, as an awkward kiss attempt with wife Melania caught the eye of the public, while a suspect gesture from Elon Musk on stage also left people shocked.
Trump has already signed off on numerous new policies since beginning his second term in office, including bringing TikTok back from the dead.
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But now, news has broke that the president has sacked four members of staff at the White House.
Trump has not hid his plans to get rid of over 1,000 officials that were appointed by Joe Biden's administration.
Taking to Truth Social, he wrote: "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.
"Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon," he wrote, naming the four staff members.
Trump added: "Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council—YOU’RE FIRED!"
Trump was starting to point towards the move by removing any evidence of these employees, as former top general Mark Milley had his portrait removed from the Pentagon's halls.
However, the dismissal of Andrés isn't too much of a surprise, as the two have been butting heads since 2015.
Trump hired the chef to run a kitchen in the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, having planned a menu and design ideas for the restaurant, though this was halted after Trump criticised Mexican immigrants when he began his first presidential bid 10 years ago.
When Andrés backed out of the contract for the restaurant, Trump sued the chef and eventually settled out of court in April 2017, with both of them calling each other 'friends', according to CNN.
But the chef continued to criticise Trump in the years following, becoming a close supporter of Biden, who awarded him the Presidential medal of Freedom.
The Spanish-American chef was then sacked by Trump less than 24 hours after being sworn in. But he took to X to clarify some details.
He wrote: "I submitted my resignation last week…my 2 year term was already up."
Reflecting positively on his time in the White House, he expressed hope that Trump would use his power to push for fitness and improved health for Americans.
Andrés added: "May God give you the wisdom, Mr. President, to put politics and name calling aside…and instead lift up the everyday people working to bring America together.
"Let’s build longer tables."
All the executive orders Donald Trump has signed so far
Policy recognising only 'two genders'
The president signed an order which will make it an official policy that there are only 'two genders'.
The policy reads: "Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.
"These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."
The order will also bring to an end 'wasteful' government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as 'defending women from gender ideology extremism'.
Free speech
The president accused the previous administration of 'trampling free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech' and vowed to restore freedom of speech.
The order states it will 'ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen' and will 'end censorship of protected speech'.
Leaving the World Health Organisation
The president accused the organisation of fumbling the COVID-19 pandemic and said the US would no longer be 'ripped off' by it.
While signing a document to have the US leave the health agency, Trump said: "World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.”
TikTok ban
As expected, Trump signed an executive order which hits pause on the US' ban of the popular app, allowing time for an 'appropriate course forward'.
“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” he said.
January 6 pardons
Trump's loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.
And as anticipated, the president has wasted no time in issuing pardons for offenders. Trump said he's pardoned around 1,500 people and issued six commutations.
Immigration
Trump has issued a slew of immigration-related policies during his first day back in the White House as he declared illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency.
Trump has already gotten started on reversing several Biden-era immigration orders and has plans to send US troops to help immigration agents and restrict refugees.
The president has also got the wheels in motion to prevent children of immigrants in the US illegally from having citizenship.
Speaking at his inauguration, he said: "All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."
Restoring the death penalty
Calling capital punishment an 'essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes', Trump signed an order which will ensure states have enough lethal injection drugs for executions.
"The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use," the order says.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico
Following through on his promise during a press conference earlier this month, Trump has now ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be called the Gulf of America.
"President Trump is bringing common sense to government and renewing the pillars of American Civilization,” the executive order said.
Despite the order, it won't change how it is named globally.
Energy policy
Trump has vowed to 'unleash American energy', promising to export US energy globally as he signed the order amid what he describes as a 'national energy emergency'.
"America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity. In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens," the order states.
The order will also reverse Biden's ban on drilling in Alaska as Trump declared America 'will be a rich nation again'.
Cost of living
In the order, Trump vowed to issue 'emergency price relief' to Americans aimed at lowering housing prices and availability and creating 'employment opportunities for American workers'.
Trump will also 'eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies that increase the costs of food and fuel'.
Drug cartels
Trump has said drug cartels will now be classified as terrorist organisations.
"International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organised crime," the orders says.
Federal workers
Federal employees have now been classified as political hires - a move which in theory would make them easier to fire.
Trump also declared a federal hiring freeze which will reduce the size of federal government.
Topics: Donald Trump, Social Media, News, US News, Politics
Joshua Nair