News Brief: Trump Sworn In as 47th US President; Signs Executive Orders

President Donald Trump arrives at the Inaugural Parade at the Capitol One Arena in Washington on Jan. 20, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas. We have some compelling stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.

President Donald Trump has taken a solemn oath to lead our nation into the future. On his first day in office, he signed a significant number of executive orders, and former President Joe Biden took extraordinary action regarding a variety of pardons, just hours before his presidency came to a close.

Also, a growing health threat has been discovered at a poultry farm in the state of Georgia, and thousands of workers say they’re preparing to strike against a highly popular big-box retail giant.

We have a number of urgent stories to share with you today and we begin here. Donald Trump has been sworn in as our nation’s 47th president, he has pledged to put America first while outlining a lofty agenda for his second term that he said will herald in a new “Golden Age.” More now on our lead story.

Trump Sworn In as 47th US President

In front of all our country’s former presidents and vice presidents, Trump promised to faithfully execute the duties of our nation’s highest office, and to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” to the best of his ability. The oath was administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

By the way, while being sworn in, Trump was flanked by his five children, along with his wife, Melania, who held the Lincoln Bible along with a Bible given to the president by his mother.

Several international dignitaries were in attendance, along with a number of prominent tech leaders including Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, the leaders of both Google and Apple, and Elon Musk of SpaceX.

Trump began his historic non-consecutive second term by calling for a “revolution of common sense.” He said that he’s returning to the White House both “confident and optimistic” that we’re beginning what he called a “new era of national success.”

He went on to say that a “tide of change is sweeping the country”; he called America “history’s greatest civilization”; and he said that, from this moment on, America’s decline is over.

Trump also promised that our astronauts will plant the U.S. flag on Mars; that our country will take back the Panama Canal; and that we will “stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.”

Trump also reiterated his promise to put America first “every single day.” He said that moving forward, we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer; that our country will soon be stronger than ever before, and that the golden age of America begins right now.

We’ll stay on topic with President Donald Trump. And on his first day as the new commander-in-chief, he issued a state of emergency with regard to illegal immigration and all while signing a large number of executive orders. More now on what we’ve learned.

Trump Signs Executive Orders

Shortly after taking office, Trump was ready to issue “close to 100” executive actions, including the declaration of “a national energy emergency” to strengthen our country’s security, along with a number of corresponding actions designed to animate his “drill baby drill” energy agenda.

The White House said that the president will make good on his campaign promises by signing 10 executive orders related to border security, including declaring an additional national emergency at the U.S. southern border that will pave the way for military deployment.

Additionally, the White House said that Trump will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, which he says is unfair to the United States.

Trump also says he’ll take action this week to reinstate U.S. service members who were discharged from the military for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. He also announced that the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed “Gulf of America” and that Alaska’s Denali will revert back to Mount McKinley.

By the way, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump. He said that Russia is “open for dialog” with the United States, and he looks forward to talks on the war with Ukraine that would lead to lasting peace rather than just a temporary cease-fire.

Pressing ahead, just moments before the end of his term, President Joe Biden issued last-minute preemptive pardons to a number of prominent government leaders. A breakdown now of who was pardoned and why.

Biden Issues Preemptive Pardons

Biden issued the pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and everyone who served on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

Just to refresh your memory, Fauci was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years, and has been accused of lying under oath about his knowledge of virology research in China. Meanwhile, Milley has admitted to inappropriate contact with a Chinese general while serving as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019 through 2023.

Biden also issued preemptive pardons to the law enforcement officers who testified before the House panel investigating the Capitol breach. Additionally, his final act as president was to preemptively pardon several members of his own family, including both of his brothers and his sister.

The former president says that none of these pardons should be viewed as a confirmation that any of the individuals did anything wrong.

He also said that he believes in both the rule of law and the strength of our legal institutions; however, he went on to say that these are “exceptional circumstances”; that he could not “in good conscience do nothing”; and that the people whom he pardoned do not deserve to be the targets of what he called “unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”

By the way, a number of Republicans are criticizing these last-minute pardons.

Some alarming news to share with you now and avian influenza has just been detected at a major poultry producer just outside of Atlanta. More now on what government officials are saying and doing about this very troubling health and safety issue.

Bird Flu Found in Georgia Commercial Flock

The Georgia Department of Agriculture says that they’ve just discovered a case of the highly dangerous bird flu at one of their state’s commercial poultry producers, and as a result, they’re suspending all poultry exhibitions, shows, swap meets, and sales.

The state’s agriculture commissioner says the discovery is a “serious threat” to Georgia’s number one industry and to the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians who make their living in the state’s poultry business.

The infected bird was found at a facility about 100 miles northeast of Atlanta, and that facility is home to around 45,000 chickens.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has sent an emergency team to the site to deal with the situation. Additionally, all commercial poultry operations within a 6-mile radius of that farm are now under strict quarantine and are in the midst of at least two weeks of surveillance testing.

According to local reports, an official who represents the state’s poultry producers says they’re cooperating with both state and federal officials, and that a number of testing processes are already in place to make sure all chicken products sold for consumption remain safe to eat.

By the way, over the last two years, cases of the bird flu have been spreading and killing millions of wild and domestic birds across the globe. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that nationwide, in the last month alone, the virus has been detected in 84 commercial and backyard flocks home to nearly 11 million birds.

Though human cases of the bird flu are rare and mostly found among farmworkers, one person in Louisiana has already died from bird flu.

Finally today, employees at one of our nation’s largest big box warehouse retailers say they could go on strike at the end of the month. The workers and their union say the company is making billions but they’re not sharing the wealth. And more on this developing story.

Union Workers at Costco Vote for Nationwide Strike

More than 18,000 Costco employees who are members of the Teamsters labor union have just voted by a wide margin to authorize a nationwide strike, as soon as their current contracts expire in just 10 days.

The union says that the vote passed by “an overwhelming 85 percent margin” due to what they say is the company’s continued failure to bargain constructively as well as their refusal to present a fair offer that reflects the company’s record-breaking profits.

The Teamsters went on to point out that during the last fiscal year, Costco’s net sales totaled nearly $250 billion, with the company earning more than $7 billion in net income. However, they say that despite a significant jump over the last six years, Costco refuses to pay their workers fair wages and benefits.

They also say that just last week, Costco Teamster members in California, New York, and the state of Washington took part in practice picketing to prepare for the upcoming strike.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Costco for comment regarding the new announcement, and so far, the company has not responded.

Meanwhile, the president of the Teamsters says that Costco has been notified that their members won’t work a day past Jan. 31 without what he calls an “industry-leading agreement,” that time is running out for the company’s executives to do the right thing, and that they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when their workers go on strike.

We’re getting ready to wrap things up, but before we go, a couple of additional stories we’re keeping a close watch on here in the News Brief newsroom:

President Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, says that he intends to partner with both state and local law enforcement agencies to tackle illegal immigration.

And in international news, Iran’s president says that a recently signed strategic partnership agreement between his country and Russia may eventually lead to greater military cooperation between the two nations.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Tuesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote and this one comes to us from President Donald Trump who said:

“No dream is too big. No challenge is too great. Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.”

Donald Trump was our nation’s 45th president, and today marks his second day on the job as the 47th president of the United States of America.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.