Washington:

President-elect Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he plans to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants.

Immigration was a top issue in the election campaign, and Trump has promised to deport millions and stabilize the border with Mexico after record numbers of migrants crossed illegally during President Joe Biden’s administration.

On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump amplified a recent post by a conservative activist that said the president-elect was “prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”

Alongside the repost, Trump commented, “True!”

Trump sealed a remarkable comeback to the presidency in his November 5 defeat of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

He has been announcing a cabinet featuring immigration hardliners, naming former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting chief Tom Homan as his “border czar.”

Homan appeared at the Republican National Convention in July, telling supporters: “I got a message to the millions of illegal immigrants that Joe Biden’s released in our country: You better start packing now.”

Authorities estimate that some 11 million people are living in the United States illegally. Trump’s deportation plan is expected directly to impact around 20 million families.

While the US government has struggled for years to manage its southern border with Mexico, Trump has super-charged concerns by claiming an “invasion” is underway by migrants he says will rape and murder Americans.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly railed against undocumented immigrants, employing incendiary rhetoric about foreigners who “poison the blood” of the United States and misleading his audiences about immigration statistics and policy.

Trump has not elaborated on his immigration crackdown in any detail but during his election campaign repeatedly vowed to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up deportations.

Critics say the law is outdated and point to its most recent use during World War II to hold Japanese-Americans in internment camps without due process.

The number of US border patrol encounters with migrants crossing from Mexico illegally is now about the same as in 2020, the last year of Trump’s first term, after peaking at a record 250,000 for the month of December 2023.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President-elect Donald Trump nominated fracking magnate and climate change skeptic Chris Wright as energy secretary on Saturday, tasking him with “cutting red tape” which the new administration hopes will drive investment in fossil fuels.

“As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new ‘Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace,'” Trump said in a statement.

Wright is a founder of Liberty Energy, which serves the energy companies that have massively increased US fossil fuel production in recent years by extracting oil and gas from shale fields in a process known as “fracking.”

“My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure,” Wright said on X after Trump’s announcement.

Read | How Trumps DOGE Co-Head Vivek Ramaswamy Built A Billion-Dollar Empire

“Energy is the lifeblood that makes everything in life possible… I am looking forward to getting to work.”

In a previous LinkedIn post, Wright had denied there is a “climate crisis.”

“There is no climate crisis and we are not in the midst of an energy transition either,” he said, adding that “the term carbon pollution is outrageous” because all life depended on carbon dioxide.

“There is no such thing as clean energy or dirty energy, all energy sources have impacts on the world both positive and negative,” he added.

Drilling

During his election campaign, Trump — who calls climate change a hoax — promised to boost the domestic fossil fuel industry in order to bring down energy prices that have driven inflation.

He also pledged to tear up environmental regulations and the United States’ commitments to combat climate change under the landmark 2015 Paris accords.

Wright will devise policy alongside North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, head of the newly created National Energy Council.

Read | Vivek Ramaswamy Indicates Massive Government Job Cuts In US

“We will DRILL BABY DRILL, expand ALL forms of Energy production to grow our Economy, and create good-paying jobs,” Trump said Friday as he announced Burgum’s appointment.

Wright has repeatedly criticized efforts by outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden to encourage America’s transition to a low-carbon energy model and has downplayed the importance of solar.

His views put him notably at odds with Trump’s key backer and informal advisor Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, who started the electric car company and invested heavily in solar out of fear of the impact of climate change.

Controversial picks

Trump, 78, began shaping his new administration this week with a series of relatively mainstream Republican choices, including conservative Florida senator and foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio for secretary of state.

But then came nominations for leaders of sprawling federal departments in his new government who have little or no relevant experience — but a history of loyalty to the incoming president.

Read | Explained: The Challenges Facing Donald Trump’s Key Cabinet Picks

Among the most controversial were attorney general pick Matt Gaetz, a former congressman once investigated for alleged sex trafficking, as well as Fox News host and national guard veteran Pete Hegseth, who was nominated to lead the Pentagon despite a thin CV.

Like Wright, they will require approval by the Republican-dominated Senate where Trump has warned lawmakers not to stand in his way or to even skip the oversight process all together.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, has been nominated to be the new health secretary, while former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has regularly echoed Kremlin talking points, was offered the job of director of national intelligence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Trump 2.0 cabinet is taking shape ahead of Donald Trump’s grand return to the White House two months later. The President-elect, who swept all seven swing states and won a decisive victory against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, has already appointed one of his biggest supporters, billionaire Elon Musk, to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside aide Vivek Ramaswamy. He is now on a spree naming other top aides who will chalk out the government strategy for the next four years. 

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