Trump's early whirlwind: Jan 6 pardons, WHO exit and DEI targeted
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Today, an avalanche of early actions from U.S. President Donald Trump. How the January 6th pardons have sparked fury and concerns it'll embolden extremists. What a U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization could mean for global health initiatives. And Trump's attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion begins.

It's Wednesday, January 22nd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. This episode is brought to you by Shopify.

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President Donald Trump began his first full day in office attending a prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It was at that service that he got a sermon he may not have been expecting from Episcopal Bishop Mary Ann Edgar Budde. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families.

Some who fear for their lives. She also made an appeal on behalf of immigrants fearing deportation. Trump was asked what he thought of the sermon later in the day. I did think it was a good service, thank you very much. I have one message for President Trump.

I'll see you in court. California Attorney General Rob Bonta. 22 Democratic-led states have sued over Trump's plan to roll back birthright citizenship after he ordered government agencies not to recognize the citizenship of American-born children if neither parent is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Prince Harry has settled his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Group newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering.

His lawyer says that a deal has been reached to settle the lawsuit. Houston, Texas, New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. far south saw as much as eight inches of snow on Tuesday. The storm also brought ice and strong winds that threatened dangerous conditions for the region, with more than 900 flights out of Houston canceled on Tuesday. Israel has launched a military operation in the West Bank, describing it as an offensive against Iranian-backed militants.

It comes just two days after the Gaza ceasefire took hold and just 24 hours after Trump lifted sanctions on Israeli settlers. And in Turkey, nine people have been detained in connection with a ski resort fire at a hotel, which has killed 76 and injured dozens.

Trump has announced a private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence. Trump says that ChatGPT's creator OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle are planning a joint venture called Stargate, which will build data centers and create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States. In 2021, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was assaulted during the January 6th riot.

The next day, he died of multiple strokes. This week, our reporter Nathan Lane called up his brother, Craig. Just wanted to get your reaction on the pardons. After Trump pardoned the men and women who stormed the Capitol. Well, how I view it is my brother died in vain.

everything he did to try to protect the country, to protect the Capitol. Sicknick did not mince words. What Trump did is despicable. Hundreds of rioters were freed on Tuesday, including Stuart Rhodes, the former lead of the far-right Oath Keepers group.

He spoke to reporters after being freed. Do you feel emboldened and legitimized and validated by the Trump theory? I don't feel emboldened. Yes, I feel vindicated and validated. Yes, absolutely. Trump has described the riots as a peaceful day of love.

So Nathan, the former leaders of both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers are now out of prison. What message might that send to extremist groups? It's a very strong message to his supporters that what they did on January 6th in his name by trying to overturn the election, which he still falsely claims was stolen from him, that they were in the right. And that even if violence occurred, in a sense, it's okay. Extremist experts say.

who track political violence, have said they're very worried that this sends a message to these extremist groups, like the Proud Boys, that, you know, essentially, whatever they do in the name of Trump or for Trump will not be punished. And so it sets up this incentive structure for them to look out for opportunities to help them out. So we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here, and I terminated it.

President Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization with the stroke of a pen on Monday. Seemed a little unfair to me. The move sent global health leaders scrambling to prepare for WHO without the U.S. involvement.

Our global health reporter Jennifer Rigby is in London covering the fallout. Global health experts around the world have said this is a blow to the health of the world and also a blow for the United States, right? That's the argument they're making, that it's not just about the rest of the world. This could also affect the US because diseases don't respect borders. So in a pandemic situation, being out of the WHO is a risk for everybody.

So what could the removal of U.S. funding in particular mean for the services that the WHO provides around the world? The U.S. is the biggest funder for the WHO, but only about $100 million of it is money they have to pay because of the size of their economy. The rest of it is voluntary funding, right? Earmarked, so they can choose what that money is spent on within WHO. And in the past, that's been things like

fighting HIV, tackling tuberculosis, and also health emergencies are all funded very heavily by the United States. Sometimes up to three quarters US money goes into those programs. Okay, so what happens next? So under US law, the US now has to give a year's notice to leave the WHO, and they also have to pay any outstanding fees. So that year, a lot of global health experts are going to spend that time trying to change the Trump administration's mind. And you know,

It could be seen that this is kind of like an incendiary sort of opening of a negotiation, right? Where you say, okay, we're out unless you do this. And that kind of remains to be seen exactly what the US would want from WHO in order to stay and what the WHO could or would give. But, you know, there's a lot that could be done with US funding under an administration that wanted to change it without having to leave the WHO.

The first female uniformed leader of a branch of the U.S. armed forces has been fired by the Trump administration. A senior official at the Department of Homeland Security saying U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan was fired because of leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.

adding, on condition of anonymity, that one of the reasons was Fagan's excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies. Fagan's firing comes less than 24 hours after Trump signed off on executive orders to eliminate DEI programs in federal government agencies. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.

Race and justice reporter Bianca Flowers has more. The removal of Linda Fagan as commandant for the U.S. Coast Guard aligns with Trump's broader reach and approach to limiting or redirecting DEI programs across federal agencies. Fagan was very much known for her advocacy efforts and DEI policies in regards to recruiting more women, retaining talent,

talent from underrepresented groups. So I think her removal is very telling of possibly what else is to come for folks that are in positions that have been proponents of DEI. Looking at these executive orders on DEI, can they extend beyond federal agencies? They can have broader implications for businesses and contractors who

depend on federal government funding. These could be federal contractors, non-profits, educational institutions that may have to reassess DEI programs to comply with some of these new directives. Fagan and the Coast Guard could not immediately be reached for comment.

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And for today's recommended read, we take a look at Trump's approval rating at the start of his term. Around 47% of Americans are happy with his presidency, according to a Reuters Ipsos poll, higher than it was during most of his first term. There's a link to the story and the graphic of the poll in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app.

Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.