Trump promises executive orders targeting illegal migrants, TikTok

US President-elect has said he will sign a string of executive orders on his first day as president to “set our country on the proper course.”

Speaking to supporters at a ‘MAGA Victory Rally’ in Washington DC on the eve of his inauguration, Trump pledged to act with “historic speed” to fix what he sees as a raft of problems.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised mass deportations of illegal immigrants in the United States and said at the rally that would be one focus of his executive orders.

“The invasion of our borders will have come to a halt. And all the illegal border trespassers will in some form or another be on their way back home,” he said.

But some experts say that deporting millions of undocumented migrants would face significant logistical hurdles and legal challenges and the costs could run into hundreds of billions of dollars.

Trump also said he would issue an executive order delaying a TikTok ban “so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”

The popular video streaming app had gone dark late on Saturday after the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the app on national security grounds which was to see it go offline on Sunday.

But hours later, the app returned, to the relief of its legions of dedicated users.

“Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!” read an announcement from the company.

Trump’s legal authority to unilaterally decide not to enforce the law, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in April and was upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday, is unclear.

But the rapid developments over the weekend served as a reminder of how dramatically debates over technology, social media and national security have changed since Trump was last in the White House.

It also signalled how closely Trump is following those shifts after waging a successful campaign in which he made inroads with voters in part by harnessing the appeal of some social media platforms.

“But I said we need to save TikTok…We have to save a lot of jobs. We don’t want to give our business to China. We don’t want to give our business to other people,” he told his supporters.

Trump had previously said he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” saying that his account on the app helped him tap into a younger voter base to win the 2024 election.

But it was Trump who initially spearheaded efforts to have it banned on national security grounds.

In 2020 towards the end of his first presidency, he attempted to ban TikTok with an executive order and pushed for the app to be acquired by Microsoft. In response, TikTok filed a legal challenge against the ban.

Trump also took a swipe at outgoing President Joe Biden, criticising his time in the office as a “failed administration” and promising to “end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment.”

He took the credit for the Gaza ceasefire deal which took effect on Sunday morning, bringing a pause to 15 months of devastating fighting in the Strip.

The first group of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released the same day.

“All of this in the Middle East in less than three months without being president. We’ve achieved more without being president than they’ve achieved in four years with being president,” Trump said.

The United States was one of the mediator countries of the ceasefire negotiations and representatives for both Biden and Trump took part, alongside Qatar and Egypt.

Trump’s inauguration will take place in Washington DC on Monday at 18:00CET.

The decision was made earlier this week to move the event indoors due to frigid temperatures forecast in the city.