Trump unveils massive $500 billion AI project to jumpstart America's 'Golden Age': Recap

President Donald Trump hosted SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle's Larry Ellison and OpenAI's Sam Altman in the Roosevelt Room Tuesday afternoon to tout $500 billion of investment to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S.

The new entity will be called Stargate.

The initiative will build data centers in Texas and work on generating more electricity to develop fast-moving AI.

'What we want to do is we want to keep it in this country,' Trump said. 'China is a competitor, others are competitors.'

Ellison touted how AI could be used to improve patient care and cure diseases in the medical field.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent at the White House

'Here I am,' said Donald Trump as season two of his presidency began Monday.

'The American people have spoken.'

Since then he has been a man in a hurry. In his first half day he delivered two more speeches, attended three inaugural balls and, in yet another Trumpian break with tradition, answering journalists' question while signing a slate of executive orders in the Oval Office.

He faces a race against the deadline facing all presidents: The moment he becomes a lame duck.

Trump showed how he plans to tackle it during his first full day in office on Tuesday (episode two), simply swamping the media with an avalanche of events and headlines.

He went to church, met his congressional leadership team and unveiled plans for a huge AI venture, all before discussing everything from TikTok to Jan. 6 pardons in a question and answer session with reporters.

But Tuesday's news began in the most Trumpian way possible, with an early morning firing by social media post.

President Donald Trump , on his first full day in office, said he was interested in the idea that the world's richest man Elon Musk could buy TikTok to stop it going dark in the United States.

Trump is opposed to allowing a law to go into effect banning the popular video sharing app because it is owned by a Chinese company.

On Tuesday, he was asked whether he was open to his close ally Musk purchasing the app.

'I would be,' he said at the end of an event launching a AI partnership between three companies, including Larry Ellison's Oracle.

'If you wanted to buy it, I'd like Larry to buy it too.'

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump said 'dumb' John Bolton didn't need a security detail anymore.

Trump was asked Tuesday about his decision to yank Bolton's security clearance.

The president had also canceled Bolton's Secret Service protection - and it appeared that's what he thought the reporter was asking him about in the Roosevelt Room.

'I think that was enough time. You take a job. You take a job, you want to do a job, we're not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives,' Trump said. 'Why should we?'

He then went into attack mode.

'I thought he was a very dumb person but I used him well. Because every time people saw me come into a meeting with John Bolton standing behind me, they thought that they'd attack them because he was a warmonger,' Trump said.

He said Bolton, along with former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, 'blew up the Middle East.'

'We got nothing out of it except a lot of death. We killed a lot of people. And John Bolton was one of those guys, a stupid guy, but you can't have that for life, you can't expect that for life,' he said about Bolton's security detail.

Bolton had previously been targeted for assassination by Iran.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday that former President Joe Biden left him an 'inspirational type letter' in the Resolute Desk.

Trump found Biden's letter while talking to reporters in the Oval Office on inauguration day.

Speaking to the press Tuesday he said Biden's letter was 'very nice.'

'I mean, I could show it, because I think it was a nice one. Maybe I will,' he teased.

'Basically, it was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter - enjoy it, do a good job - important, very important, how important the job is. But I may - I think it was a nice letter. I think I should let people see it because it was a positive for him, in writing it,' Trump said.

Trump said he 'appreciated' the gesture.

Four years ago - despite the fact that he contested Biden's win and skipped the Democrat's inauguration - Biden's biographer reported that Trump left Biden a gracious letter as well.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, is fighting new accusations that his ex-wife feared for her safety because of his volatile behavior.

It is the latest in a string of misconduct allegations against Hegseth who is on the cusp of confirmation to become the secretary of defense with a vote in the Senate this week.

The new claims threaten to derail the nominee's support as some Republicans have already expressed reservations about the former Fox News host's qualifications.

Bombshell testimony given by Danielle Hegseth - the ex-wife of Hegseth's brother - was obtained by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, NBC News first reported.

Danielle writes in a sworn affidavit that Samantha Hegseth, who was Pete's spouse from 2010 to 2017, was scared for her safety due to her then-husband's actions.

In the affidavit Danielle Hegseth cites private conversations the two had at the time as the basis for her claims, saying Samantha disclosed Pete's 'erratic and aggressive behavior over many years.'

MAGA loyalist Rep. Lauren Boebert said she'd be proud to offer tours of the Capitol to the freed January 6 prisoners.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Some conservative lawmakers have arrived at the D.C. Central Detention Facility to advocate for the release of January 6 rioters pardoned by Donald Trump.

'We hope they are going to be released shortly,' House Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy said in a video posted online.

'A pardon is a pardon,' he said.

He was joined by his fellow HFC member Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, who was also there to demand the rioter's release.

The Oval Office got a makeover in just hours as President Trump was sworn into office as the 47th president.

From the return of the diet coke button to the prominent portraits on display, see all the changes made from Biden's four years in office.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Barron Trump, 18, is launching his own luxury real estate company with two, similarly youthful business partners.

President Donald Trump’s youngest child, who just completed his first semester of college at New York University this winter, is following in his father’s business footsteps.

Newweek first reported the incorporation of Trump, Fulcher & Roxburgh Capital Inc. in Wyoming last July. But it dissolved just four months later and just days after Trump’s 2024 election win.

Cameron Roxburgh, one of the business’s co-founders, said the pause was to avoid any election-related media attention as they sought to launch their venture.

Along with Roxburgh, the third business partner is Carter Fulcher, whose cousin is Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher of Idaho.

President Donald Trump is meeting with Johnson and Thune in the Oval Office today.

They will be joined by more MAGA lawmakers in the House and Senate after their private meeting concludes.

Trump already scored his first legislative win with the passage of the Laken Riley immigration bill in the Senate on inauguration day.

Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump has removed his former National Security Advisor John Bolton's Secret Service protection.

Bolton had been targeted for assassination by Iran.

It's another move that Trump has immediately taken to get revenge on his critcis.

CNN first reported the move Tuesday, with Bolton expressing his dismay.

'I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has made this decision,' Bolton posted to X. 'Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to once again extend Secret Service protection to me in 2021.'

Bolton was also among the 50 national security officials who Trump wishes to have stripped of their security clearances.

While Bolton didn't sign onto the 2020 letter discrediting The New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story, he was included in the mix.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Donald Trump's nominee to run the Department of Veteran's Affairs held up his dog tags while testifying to show his connection to those the agency represents.

'These are my dog tags — they're a reminder, just like every other veteran who served, that we're part of a bigger union,' Collins remarked while holding up his military-issued necklace.

Collins is a Colonel in the Air Force Reserves. He serves as a military chaplain.

An episcopal bishop, with a longstanding history of hating on Donald Trump and supporting liberal causes, caused a stir in Washington DC after lecturing the new president at mass.

Mariann Budde seemed to have left the Trump family unmoved by her sermon about LGBT people and undocumented migrants during the religious service.

The bishop - who proudly puts her pronoun choices in her Instagram biography - is also pro-gay marriage.

In a piece with the Washington Post in 2011, after being installed as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, she was described as 'unapologetically liberal'.

Speaking then, she told the outlet: 'I'm in favor of gay marriage, always have been. At this point it's a no-brainer.'

During the sermon on Tuesday, she told the congregation: 'There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.'

She addressed Trump directly - as he sat wearing a red tie in the pew next to his wife and new vice president.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy questioned Elise Stefanik over Elon Musk's emphatic celebrations at Donald Trump's inauguration parade rally.

'What do think of Elon Musk ... doing two Heil Hitler Salutes last night at the president's televised rally?' Murphy asked the nominee for US Ambassador to the United Nations.

"No,' Stefanik replied. 'Elon Musk did not do those salutes.'

'I was not at the rally,' she conceded before saying Murphy's assessment 'is simply not the case' of what happened.

Donald and Melania Trump had a tender exchange as they danced and celebrated inauguration night at the Liberty ball in Washington DC.

'Today is one we will never forget,' Melania whispered in Trump's ear as they shared a dance to The Battle Hymn of the Republic, lip reading expert Jeremy Freeman told the Mirror.

'You're right, I'll learn, I'll fight,' the 47th president replied, according to Freeman.

Melania then apparently said, 'I got you.'

'We'll see. Will you control it? Less tricky, less pushing away?' Trump answered.

Melania reportedly then said: 'It's a no.'

'I hear you,' Trump concluded.

The newly sworn-in president and his glamorous first lady went to three inaugural balls to celebrate the beginning of their second term in the White House.

Trump is only the second president in US history to serve two non-consecutive terms.

President Donald Trump was forced to sit and listen to a stunning lecture from a bishop about his treatment of migrants and the LGBTQ community at a church service kicking off his first full day in office.

The commander-in-chief was sat in the front row of the pews with First Lady Melania when Episcopal bishop Marianne Budde unleashed her sermon on 'mercy' to a seemingly stunned congregation.

'I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country that are scared now,' she said. 'There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.'

She also asked Trump to have mercy on illegal immigrants noting that they were the one's doing low-skilled work and service jobs in the United States.

'The people who pick our crops, and clean our office buildings who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals, they might not be citizens or have the proper documentation,' she said.

Trump did not appear moved by the sermon, as he looked wearily out at the bishop after a full day and night of Inauguration festivities the day before.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The latest challenge against President Donald Trump's slew of executive orders on Monday now questions the legal ability for him to redefine birthright citizenship.

Trump's order states that birthright citizenship cannot apply to those born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants or parents who are in the country without legal documentation.

This would reshape rights written out in the Constitution.

Eighteen states filed the lawsuit in Massachusetts court on Tuesday challenging the order.

Trump issed 10 executive orders related to migration and immigration on Monday. Pictured are three migrant children from Haiti who were waiting in Tijuana, Mexico for a CBP One asylum appointment that the Trump administration will no longer honor

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Firebrand DOGE subcommittee chair Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced which GOP lawmakers will sit on her panel.

The subcommittee, which was established to work with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will examine areas of federal spending ripe for reforms and budget cuts.

The subcommittee will include the following Republican lawmakers:

• Rep. Pat Fallon, Texas
• Rep. William Timmons, South Carolina
• Rep. Brandon Gill, Texas
• Rep. Brian Jack, Georgia
• Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee
• Rep. Eric Burlison, Missouri
• Rep. Michael Cloud, Texas

The Democratic membership has yet to be announced.

Donald Trump Jr.'s new girlfriend Bettina Anderson joined the Trump family for the Inaguration prayer service on Tuesday as she slowly makes her public debut.

Anderson sat next to Trump Jr. during the service.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent in Washington, D.C.

Trump sat slumped in his pew for much of the service. And looked like he would rather be anywhere but church even before Bishop Mariann Budde delivered a not-so-subtle lecture on mercy and compassion

In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country, and are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives...

And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded after Trump signaled he would still slap tariffs on Canada and Mexico just hours after being sworn into office.

While signing orders in the Oval Office Monday night, the president said he is still thinking of imposing 25 percent tariffs on the U.S. neighbors. He said they would begin on February 1.

‘Canadian energy powers American manufacturing, businesses and homes,’ he said and pointed out Canada is the only country the U.S. runs a manufacturing trade surplus with of its top trade partners.

‘Of course, if the president does choose to proceed with tariffs on Canada, Canada will respond, and everything is on the table,’ Trudeau said.

He said they were prepared for 'every possible scenario.'

The outgoing prime minister said Canada is already working to secure the U.S. northern border.

Trudeau said the U.S. Canada trade relationship is one of the most successful in the world.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

While speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday morning Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated that John Ratcliffe will get voted on today to be confirmed as CIA director.

The Senate will hold additional votes on the president's national security team. We expect to vote on the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be director of the CIA later today. Mr. Ratcliffe, like Secretary Rubio, earned bipartisan support After his confirmation hearing last week.’

‘He will bring valuable knowledge and experience to his new post, including from his time on the House Intelligence Committee and as director of National intelligence in the first trump administration.’

President Donald Trump attended a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday along with members of his family.

The official inaugural prayer service is part of the concluding inaguration events.

Vice President JD Vance also attended the service with his wife, Usha.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Sen. Dave McCormick's voice is cutting out as he speaks at Elise Stefanik's confirmation hearing.

'Forgive my voice, I think I've been celebrating making America great again a little too much,' he said in a painfully raspy tone at the onset of his questioning.

Balls celebrating Donald Trump's inauguration have been going on since Friday, and the freshman senator appears to have been blaming them for his hoarse voice.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Hundreds were released from jails and prisons on Monday with the swipe of Trump’s pen just hours after taking his oath of office.

As of August, more than 1,488 defendants were arrested and charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot that sought to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

Trump vowed to pardon January 6 prisoners and defendants after Biden pardoned his own son Hunter, 54, for felonies related to tax fraud and lying on a federal form to purchase a firearm.

Biden also issued a slew of other preemptive pardons for friends and other members of his family and some of Trump’s biggest foes just moments before vacating office on Monday.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, just advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee for full consideration on the floor.

The committee voted 16 – 11 to send the question of Bessent’s confirmation to the floor for a vote by the 100-member Senate.

Democrat Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire voted in favor of Bessent while the remainder voted against the Trump nominee.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Stefanik notes her experience quashing antisemitism by holding Ivy League universities to account when pro-Hamas encampments broke out on their campuses.

‘I have been the leader in combating antisemitism in higher education,’ Stefanik said.

‘My oversight work led to the most viewed testimony in the history of Congress.’

‘This hearing with university presidents was heard around the world and viewed billions of times. It exposed the antisemitic rot in colleges and universities and was a watershed moment in American education.’

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Elise Stefanik will talk about unifying the world around U.S. leadership and keeping moral clarity during her confirmation hearing to be ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday, a copy of her opening remarks obtained by DailyMail.com reveals.

In her remarks, she will call out the United Nations for straying from its purpose.

‘As outlined in Article 1, Chapter I of the UN Charter, the purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations based on a shared respect for the principle of equal rights, solve international problems, and harmonize the actions of nations in the attainment of common ends,' the copy of her remarks says.

'The UN has not lived up to this founding mission and we must demand better.'

‘It is imperative to ensure strong American leadership at the United Nations. I share President Trump’s vision of a UN reformed by strong America First peace through strength leadership and a return to its founding mission of promoting peace and security around the world.'

'If confirmed, my family and I are excited for this next chapter to serve on President Trump's Cabinet in this role. I commit to the American people that I will work my very hardest in the coming years to lead with moral clarity and American values. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.'

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, was given an affirmative vote by the Senate Armed Services Committee to move on to full consideration by the entire 100-member chamber.

The vote Monday night in the committee broke down on party lines and Hegseth squeaked by with a one-vote margin, 14 – 13.

Soon the former Fox News host will be brought up for a vote before the entire Senate, which has a current breakdown of 51 Republicans to 47 Democrats.

There are two vacant seats due to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s appointments.

Hegseth will need just a simple majority of 51 votes to be confirmed, which Republicans could do as soon as this week.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill

Marco Rubio has officially been sworn in as secretary of state.

The ceremony occurred in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building directly next to the White House.

Rubio, with his hand on a Bible held up by his wife Jeannette, was sworn in by Vice President JD Vance.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has set up its official government website.

The landing page – and only page so far – features an image of the doge internet meme, which is a Shiba Inu dog with a concerned-looking face that grew popular online in 2013.

'The people voted for major reform,' the website reads.

Billionaire Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk is leading the new agency, which seeks to cut government spending and waste and has an end date of July 4, 2026.

I can confirm the American people won't be hearing from me today because they'll be hearing from the leader of the free world, President Trump will be speaking to the press later this afternoon at the White House, and we will have a big infrastructure announcement.

Leavitt also celebrated Trump's sweeping actions on Day One including 42 total executive orders and over 115 personnel actions.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump signed a myriad of executive orders on Monday in a massive crackdown on Day One of his second term.

The orders and actions cover a wide range of issues from immigration policies, to gender identity issues and even addressing the flow of water from shower heads.

DailyMail.com breaks down the most notable and significant orders that Trump signed in the hours after his inauguration.

Donald Trump's agenda is on the march through Congress after the Senate passed the Laken Riley Act on Monday, a bill that would more easily allow illegal migrant criminals to be deported.

After passing the Senate the bill will quickly head to the House where lawmakers are expected to ratify the Senate's amendments before sending the bill to Trump's desk for him to sign, marking a quick start to his second term.

The legislation, which passed with bipartisan support in the House 264 - 159 last week, was named to honor the late Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, 22, who was murdered by repeat criminal Jose Ibarra.

Marco Rubio has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate to become the next secretary of state.

The Florida senator, 53, and former presidential candidate was confirmed with a resounding bipartisan vote from his colleagues and himself.

His nomination to become the head of the State Department moved through the Senate earlier in the evening among a rash of other Trump Cabinet picks who also advanced key hurdles.

'The Senate then moved to immediately consider Rubio's confirmation before the 100 members, even the Florida Republican himself got to vote on his own fate.

Rubio's confirmation keeps in line with a tradition among the Senate to confirm at least one presidential Cabinet member on Inauguration Day dating back to Bill Clinton's first day on the job.

Usually the nominees have importance to national security, and as incoming head of the State Department, Rubio will have a lot to handle in that vein.

Donald and Melania Trump hit three inaugural balls in one night in Washington D.C. to mark the beginning of a new MAGA era.

The freshly sworn back in president and his glamorous first lady started at the military-themed Commander in Chief ball, before heading to the nearby Liberty Ball where they danced onstage with the entire Trump family. Then, they motorcading to Union Station for the Starlight Ball.

'We needed three because we have such support,' Trump told the crowd at the Liberty Ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center Monday night.

The crowds waited hours to see the returned commander-in-chief and he and the first lady were finally played on by the United States Marine Band at the Commander in Chief ball a little before 10:30 p.m.

Melania debuted a leggy, white-and-black gown, which was custom-made by Hervé Pierre, the same designer who crafted her 2017 inaugural outfit.

They did their first slow dance to The Battle Hymn of the Republic, played by the United States Marine Band, before being joined onstage by Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha.

Both couples then danced with members of the military, as is the custom.

President Donald Trump is in the process of firing thousands of White House staff who are not aligned with his vision to Make America Great Again.

Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, the newly appointed president publicly fired several senior workers in an unprecedented shake-up.

The post read: 'Our first day in the White House is not over yet! 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.