The decisions that Donald Trump made in his first days as US president and the decrees he issued are the focus of attention for Western media.
His return to power will serve as a wake-up call for many liberals who have lost touch with the concerns and values of ordinary Americans, writes the American newspaper "New York Times". The publication adds that Republican Trump may inspire Democrats to do better as an opposition party.
The president seeks to restructure the country's energy future to block any transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, the newspaper adds, explaining that in order to do so, Trump is testing the limits of presidential power. While former President Joe Biden made combating climate change a priority and worked to wean the United States off fossil fuels, the burning of which is heating the planet, Trump intends to make a sharp turn, the publication commented.
Another American newspaper - "Wall Street Journal", writes that according to people familiar with the matter, Trump is particularly focused on using the threat of tariffs to change the rules related to the automotive industry within the framework of the agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. In this way, he would force auto factories to move from Canada and Mexico back to the United States, this publication believes.
According to him, a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian exports to the United States could plunge the Canadian economy into recession.
"The Trump administration will have to decide whether this is a bluff aimed at a compromise or the start of a tax and trade war," Itai Greenberg, who helped negotiate the deal as a Treasury Department official in the Biden administration, told the "Wall Street Journal".
V. "The Washington Post" focuses on another topic. Upon leaving the White House, Joe Biden granted immunity from prosecution to five members of his family, a disappointing abuse of his presidential powers, the publication commented.
It added that "all of this, however, the whole sordid history of presidential pardons and immunities, pales in comparison to Trump's move to pardon about 1,500 defendants in the Capitol storming and commute the sentences of 14 people". According to "The Washington Post", there should be no doubt that Trump's use of this power is the most serious abuse in the history of presidential pardons in the country.
"The Washington Post" also commented on Elon Musk, who, according to many, "gave a Nazi salute" during his speech at Trump's inauguration.
"If you printed such a photo in black and white, you could be forgiven for thinking it was taken at a rally in Nuremberg," the newspaper wrote. However, it added that if we watch the longer video of Musk's speech, rather than the clip itself that has become popular, we will see that he makes other strange gestures and that this may simply be the way he moves when he is excited.
The British newspaper "Telegraph" examines Trump's economic decisions, writing that with his decrees he has not only "killed" the tax reforms of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), but practically threatens to destroy everything built over the past century and return the world to the tax policies of the era of the "robber barons". According to the publication, this represents a new front in the president's looming clash with Europe.
In addition, the "Telegraph" draws attention to the fact that in connection with the inauguration ceremony, Donald Trump broke tradition by inviting several foreign leaders, but not British Prime Minister Keir Starmer or other left-wing figures from little old Europe.
The European edition of the magazine "Politico" commented that although it is clear that Europe does not want to be in conflict with the United States, this time it is preparing for possible conflicts much more seriously than before Trump's first term.
As for trade, Brussels and London have been developing war-like scenarios for months and have prepared an "arsenal of weapons" to use them if necessary, the publication writes. Officials hope Trump can be persuaded not to hit European exports with punitive tariffs, but people familiar with the matter say European officials are ready with a full range of responses, including retaliatory tariffs.