Democracy Now!

We speak with longtime trade policy expert Lori Wallach about President Donald Trump's move to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China - the three largest trading partners of the United States. It has sent global stocks tumbling and raised fears of more inflation. Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on most imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% on goods from China, set to take effect Tuesday (After our broadcast, Mexico announced Trump had paused the new tariffs on Mexico for a month). Energy resources from Canada will carry a lower 10% tariff. Canada and Mexico have vowed to enforce retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., upending decades of economic integration under free trade agreements. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on the European Union. Wallach says that while tariffs can be an effective tool as part of a larger economic package, Trump's approach is likely to do more harm than good, even on his own stated goals of curbing immigration and drugs. We certainly don't want to hold on to the old, devastating neoliberal trade agenda, but the random tariffs on Mexico and Canada ... aren't going to get you the outcome you want," says Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project and board member of the Citizens Trade Campaign.

Trump Launches Trade War Against Canada, Mexico & China, Time for It To Die": Musk Pushes for Trump to Shut Down USAID, Musk & Associates Gain Access to Treasury's Federal Payment System, Over 30 Jan. 6 Prosecutors Fired; FBI Agents Questioned over Ties to Insurrection Probes, Trump Doubles Down on Threat to Illegally Seize Panama Canal over China Ties, South African Official Floats Cutting U.S. Off from Minerals After Trump Aid Threat, Trump Hosts Netanyahu in D.C.; Arab Leaders Reject U.S. Call to Force Palestinians into Egypt and Jordan, Israel Escalates Attack on Jenin, Blows Up 23 Homes on Residential Block, RSF Air Attack on Omdurman Market Kills 54 People, Fighting in Eastern DRC's Goma Kills 733 in One Week; Hospitals and Morgues Overwhelmed, U.S. Warplanes Strike Northern Somalia, Northwest Syria in Separate Attacks, Trump to End TPS for 300,000 Venezuelans as Caracas Agrees to Start Receiving Deportation Flights, Hegseth Visits Southern Border; ICE Seeks Access to Database of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Protesters Take to the Streets in U.S. Cities in Defense of Immigrants' Rights, Hospitals in NY, D.C., VA and CO Cancel Young Trans Patients' Care After Trump Order, 8,000+ Pages from Gov't Websites Taken Offline, Including Crucial Info for Trans and Queer People, Louisiana Seeks Arrest of New York Doctor Who Prescribed Abortion Pill Online, DNC Elects Moderate Ken Martin as New Chair, Shunning Calls from Progressive Base

President Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congressmember from Hawaii, is facing major qualms from her former colleagues. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Democrats grilled her over her refusal to label whistleblower Edward Snowden a traitor." We discuss Snowden's case and what it revealed about government surveillance of the American public with Chip Gibbons.

President Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist who has promoted right-wing conspiracy theories, is one of Donald Trump's most disturbing picks" who seems poised to use the office to go after journalists and other Trump critics, says Chip Gibbons of the civil liberties organization Defending Rights & Dissent.

Author and investigative journalist Brian Deer, who debunked disgraced ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent claims that vaccines were linked to autism, says that Wakefield and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of health and human services, are major leaders of the anti-vaccine movement. They basically run this movement together," he says.

The second day of confirmation hearings for Trump's secretary of health and human services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. again focused on his long record of vaccine skepticism, his shifting position on abortion and his professional inexperience in public health. Kennedy was questioned about his role in a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019. Dr. Alec Ekeroma, the director general of Samoa's Health Ministry, says Kennedy promoted anti-vaccine misinformation in the country, leading to the deaths of 83 people, the majority of whom were young children. He is the preeminent anti-vax campaigner in the world," adds investigative journalist Brian Deer, who has been following the anti-vaccine movement for years. Kennedy has no medical or scientific qualifications at all."

Donald Trump is blaming DEI for the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in more than two decades, when a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter collided over a Washington, D.C. airport, killing 67 people. We have a long list of problems that need to be addressed. ... Instead, we're talking about a nonsensical issue that is not based in fact," says FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher Bill McGee, who says criticisms of DEI distract from and work against a critical staffing shortage at the FAA. McGee also discusses the dangerous politicization of the FAA and the increasing influence of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, over the aviation industry.

Trump Blames DEI for D.C. Crash Amid Reports of Understaffing, Recent Patterns of Landing Troubles, RFK Jr. Denies COVID Vaccine Saved Millions; Errs on Basic Info About Medicaid, Medicare, Kash Patel Refuses to Rule Out Targeting Trump Critics as Head of FBI, Senators Press Tulsi Gabbard on Ed Snowden Comments, Russia, Syria, Paramount Could Settle in 60 Minutes" Lawsuit as Major Networks Bow to Trump, Meta Agrees to $25 Million Settlement over Suspending Trump's Accounts, Trump's New FCC Chair Launches Probe into NPR & PBS, Judge Lifts D.C. Travel Ban for Oath Keepers Leader After Trump's Mass Clemency for Jan. 6 Convicts, Trump Withdraws Security for Gen. Mark Milley, Trump's Education EOs Target Transgender Rights, Critical Race Theory and Public School Funding, Israel Frees Palestinian Captives, Completing Third Round of Prisoner Swaps, M23 Rebels Prepare to March on Bukavu After Seizing Eastern Regional Capital, New Ebola Outbreaks Confirmed in Uganda, Suspected in DRC, Protests Erupt as German Mainstream Parties Join Far-Right AfD to Pass Anti-Immigrant Bill, Russia Seizes More Territory in Ukraine's Donbas, Kills 9 Civilians in Attack on Sumy, Rebel Commander Ahmed al-Sharaa Named Interim President of Syria, Trump Promises 25% Tariffs on Canadian and Mexican Imports Beginning Saturday, Quakers Sue to Block ICE Raids on Schools, Hospitals and Houses of Worship, Democratic National Committee Gathers to Elect New Chair

We speak with Palestinian writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada about the ceasefire in Gaza, which has allowed half a million displaced people to return to what's left of their homes in the north of the territory, as Israel's ban on UNRWA goes into effect. Hamas militants released another three Israeli captives Thursday, as well as five Thai nationals, all of whom were taken to Gaza during the October 7, 2023, attack. In exchange, Israel will release another 110 imprisoned Palestinians, including 30 children. But while the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire continues to hold, Israeli forces are ramping up attacks on the occupied West Bank, particularly in the Jenin refugee camp. Israel is trying to turn [Jenin] into a clone of Gaza - ethnic cleansing, pushing people out and destroying homes systematically, one after the other. All of it is to explode the West Bank, to use it as a pretext for a major war to push Palestinians out," says Shehada.

Rescue workers in Washington, D.C., have launched a massive recovery operation in the Potomac River after a regional passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair late Wednesday, with both aircraft crashing into the water. American Airlines Flight 5342 had 60 passengers and four crew members on board and was en route to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from Wichita, Kansas. The Black Hawk helicopter had three soldiers on board conducting a training flight. Officials believe there are no survivors. The deadly crash comes amid upheaval and staffing changes in the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration due to President Donald Trump's ongoing purge across federal government agencies. Journalist David Sirota of The Lever says the airport also recently had its air traffic increased by lawmakers despite objections. There is a very deep safety concern at this airport because there had been a series of near misses," says Sirota. These warnings about expanding the flight traffic at this airport came just a few months ago." He also discusses the first 10 days of the Trump administration.

We continue our conversation with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who responds to President Donald Trump's freezing of trillions in federal funding this week, which the White House walked back just a day later. Wyden helped pressure the administration to abandon the plan after publicizing how it disrupted Medicaid payments in states across the country. The credit deserves to go to the whistleblowers who brought it to us," he says. Wyden also discusses the confirmation hearings for former Democratic Congressmember Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, as well as the growing influence of Big Tech oligarchs and the deadly air crash in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, was questioned by lawmakers Tuesday in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, which largely focused on his decades of anti-vaccine activism, as well as his views on abortion and other healthcare issues. We play excerpts from the contentious hearing and speak with the ranking Democrat on the committee, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who says Democrats successfully highlighted his controversial views, potentially putting his confirmation at risk despite the Republican majority in the Senate. This is one of the most important positions in the world as it relates to healthcare," says Wyden. He cannot be trusted, ... and he's unprepared." Kennedy faces a second day of questioning today before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

67 Feared Dead After American Airlines Jet Collides with Army Helicopter Near Washington, D.C., Trump Says D.C. Crash Should Have Been Prevented," Days After Gutting Airline Safety Committee, White House Rescinds Memo Freezing Trillions of Dollars of Federal Grants and Loans, Trump Tells Pentagon to Prepare Mass Detention Camp for 30,000 Immigrants at Guantanamo, Guatemalans Deported by Trump Administration Recount Fear and Family Separations, Trump Cancels Protected Status for Hundreds of Thousands of Venezuelan Immigrants, Senate Confirms Fossil Fuel Ally, Anti-Regulation Advocate Lee Zeldin as Head of EPA, Confirmation Proceedings for AG Nom Pam Bondi, Small Business Nom Kelly Loeffler Advance in Senate, Hamas Frees 3 Hostages, Israel Set to Free 110 Palestinian Prisoners After Brief Delay, Trump Issues EO Targeting Noncitizens for Deportation over Pro-Palestine Protests, Israeli Airstrikes Kill Two Palestinians in Gaza as Israel Continues to Violate Ceasefire, Israeli's Escalation in Occupied West Bank Kills at Least Another 10 Palestinians, A Nightmare Scenario": Israel's Ban on UNRWA Takes Effect, Disgraced Ex-Senator Bob Menendez Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Corruption, Reports: DOJ in Talks to Dismiss Corruption Charges Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

For a fraction of the cost, Chinese startup DeepSeek's free, open-source artificial intelligence is outcompeting the world's previous leading AI model, OpenAI's ChatGPT, upending the financial predictions of Silicon Valley and causing major turmoil in the U.S. stock market. This comes just after President Trump announced a $500 billion private sector investment plan to boost AI infrastructure in the United States and amid the threat of a major trade war between the U.S. and China. For more, we're joined by information studies scholar Ramesh Srinivasan, who says DeepSeek's success is a major disruption to the dominant Silicon Valley model" of technological development, which has heavily relied on proprietary data and private investment - and contributed to the rise of a tech oligarchy with increasing influence over the state.

We take a look at Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's first 100 days in office with Edwin Ackerman, an expert on Mexican politics. Sheinbaum has proved enormously popular with the Mexican public, championing populist reforms and issuing forceful rebukes of Donald Trump's scapegoating and demonization of Latin America, including his attempt to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America" and his threat to enact crushing tariffs on Mexico, the U.S.'s second-largest trading partner. Sheinbaum may be at the forefront of a renewed pink tide," says Ackerman, referencing a wave of progressive, left-wing Latin American governments that first took shape at the beginning of the 21st century.

As Senate confirmation hearings begin Wednesday for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, his cousin Caroline Kennedy has published a video slamming him as holding dangerous and willfully misinformed" views on vaccines and other public health issues. Caroline Kennedy is the former U.S. ambassador to Japan and Australia and daughter of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s uncle.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has temporarily halted President Trump's attempt to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, including university and nonprofit funding, food assistance, Medicaid, veterans' benefits and more. The Trump administration said the shocking move was a part of its assessment of whether various government programs align with its agenda. Since assuming office, Trump and his allies have launched a highly publicized purge of initiatives aimed at tackling historical and structural inequality within the federal government. It's just been complete chaos" and completely illegal," says our guest Sam Bagenstos, who explains that the policy is an attempt to raise a challenge to Congress's power of the purse and nullify all the limitations that have been placed on the president's power." Bagenstos previously served as general counsel to the Office of Management and Budget, the agency that announced the freeze Monday night.

Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Trump's Radical Plan to Freeze Federal Grants and Loans, Unions Condemn Trump's Deferred Resignation" Offer to Buy Out 2.3 Million Federal Workers, Trump Ousts National Labor Relations Board Leaders Who Support Workers' Rights, Immigration Raids Accelerate as Trump Sets Quota of at Least 1,200 Arrests Per Day, Senate Confirms Climate Denier Sean Duffy as Transportation Secretary, Senate Confirms Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, Caroline Kennedy Calls HHS Nominee RFK Jr. a Predator" Ahead of Senate Confirmation Hearings, Trump Admin Freeze on HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Creates Chaos, Threatens Lives, As Palestinians Return to Northern Gaza, Israel Launches Fresh Attacks on West Bank and Lebanon, Senate Democrats Block Bill to Sanction ICC over Arrest Warrants for Israeli Leaders, Protesters in DRC's Capital Storm Embassies to Protest Escalating Violence in Eastern Congo

Holocaust survivors on Monday marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Nazi Germany exterminated over 1 million Jews and other minority groups between 1940 and 1945. The commemoration comes as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles worldwide and far-right forces gain strength across Europe and the United States. For more, we speak with Israeli American historian Raz Segal, who says the academic field of Holocaust studies has a blind spot when it comes to Israel and its actions in Palestine, from the 1948 Nakba to the genocidal assault on Gaza. Since October 2023, so many Holocaust scholars have gone out of their way to protect Israel," says Segal. It's very grotesque."

As U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renews his call for an immediate halt to fighting in Sudan between the country's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, we speak with New York Times correspondent Declan Walsh about how the conflict is being fueled by the illicit gold trade. He reports that Sudan's gold riches are being smuggled out of the country by both sides in order to pay for the drones, guns and missiles that have killed tens of thousands of people since the start of the civil war in April 2023. Much of that wealth is ending up in the United Arab Emirates, which backs the RSF despite mounting evidence of the group's war crimes and crimes against humanity. Gold is really at the heart of the RSF's ascent to power," says Walsh.

The long-simmering conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo escalated this week when Rwandan-backed M23 rebels captured at least part of the eastern city of Goma. The fighting between the militia and Congolese forces has killed at least 17 with over 370 people injured, and hospitals are overwhelmed. U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has called on Rwandan forces to withdraw immediately from the DRC and end support for M23, as fears grow of a wider regional war, but Maurice Carney, co-founder and executive director of Friends of the Congo, says Rwanda's actions in the DRC will continue unless Western countries stop rewarding President Paul Kagame with development aid, trade deals and military funding. This lack of accountability, this rampant impunity, lack of justice has enabled this to continue to this day," says Carney, calling Rwanda's involvement in the DRC a war of plunder" aimed at securing the country's mineral wealth.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ramping up raids across the United States, arresting more than 1,000 people in operations Monday after detaining a similar number on Sunday. Immigrant communities and their allies say the raids violate human rights, the Constitution, and are being carried out in retaliation against sanctuary cities that have policies aimed at protecting undocumented residents. In Chicago, immigrant rights organizer Dulce Guzman says there is palpable fear and anxiety among families," but she lauds elected officials, including Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor J.B. Pritzker, for pushing back against what she says is the Trump administration's white supremacist agenda." Meanwhile, in Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka has condemned an ICE raid last week at a seafood depot where federal agents took three people into custody, including a U.S. military veteran. Simply being in proximity to their target, which is immigrant communities, is enough to arrest and detain you, too," says Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. She encourages people to know their rights, such as the ability to record ICE agents and to refuse orders without a warrant. One of their most effective tools is fear and panic," Torres says.

DOJ Fires Slew of Officials Involved in Special Counsel's Probes into Trump, D.C.'s Acting AG to Investigate Prosecutors Who Charged Jan. 6 Rioters with Obstruction, CDC Orders Employees to Immediately Cease Collaboration with WHO, Trump's Pentagon EOs Take Aim at DEI, Trans Military Members; Order Iron Dome"-Like Defense System, This Will Have Devastating Consequences": OMB Orders Workers to Pause Most Federal Aid, Navajo Nation Says Immigration Agents Targeting Indigenous People Amid Crackdown, Mexico Confirms It Has Received Non-Mexican Deportees from the U.S., DHS Halts Temporary Resettlement Programs Affecting Refugees from Ukraine, Haiti, Venezuela, Residents Flee Goma as M23 Rebel Assault Deepens Humanitarian Crisis in DRC, Israel Violates Gaza Ceasefire, Killing 2 Palestinians, Including 5-Year-Old Girl, Mexican Journalist Alejandro Gallegos Found Murdered in Tabasco, Target Faces Boycott After Becoming Latest U.S. Company to Ban DEI Initiatives, Costco Won't End DEI Initiatives, Faces Friday Strike Deadline by 18,000 Union Workers, Philadelphia Grocery Workers Vote to Form First Union at Amazon-Owned Whole Foods, U.S. Tech and Energy Stocks Plummet as Chinese Startup Launches DeepSeek" AI Model, My 'Crime'? Being a Journalist Who Speaks Up for Palestine": Ali Abunimah Speaks Out After Swiss Arrest

The Senate has confirmed former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Trump's defense secretary by just one vote. Hegseth has very clear" ties to extreme Christian nationalism, as well as a history of alleged sexual assault and abuse. Logan Davis, a reporter in Denver, Colorado, who grew up in the same classical Christian educational movement that Hegseth is raising his family in, explains the problematic ideology that shapes it. Hegseth has endorsed leaders in the community and their beliefs that the church possesses supremacy over worldly affairs, antebellum slavery was a beneficent American institution" and the U.S.'s global war on terror is a modern-day iteration of the medieval Crusades. Davis says Hegseth's lack of qualifications for his new role means he will likely be leaning on these controversial faith leaders in his life more than someone with adequate experience" would be - bringing this extremist Christian nationalism into the mainstream.

We look at the impact of President Trump's halting of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a faith-based nonprofit that helps place and resource refugees upon their arrival in the U.S. as part of the program. Some 100,000 refugees were settled in the United States last year under the highly selective program, which has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades. Now thousands of people already approved to come to the United States are stranded in unstable situations, with uncertain legal status in the U.S., or unable to leave dangerous conditions of war or persecution in their home countries. Vignarajah says the Refugee Admissions Program reflects the spirit of American generosity," and highlights the plight of approved Afghan refugees who now risk retribution from the Taliban as evidence of the importance of refugee resettlement to U.S. foreign policy.

A dramatic standoff between the U.S. and Colombia unfolded Sunday with Colombian President Gustavo Petro turning back two U.S. military planes that were carrying deported migrants in shackles, saying immigrants should be treated with dignity. The two countries then traded tariff threats before announcing a deal in which Colombia would begin accepting flights of deported migrants. Meanwhile, Trump has sent 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, further militarizing the region. We're very, very concerned," says immigration activist Fernando Garcia of the El Paso, Texas-based Border Network for Human Rights, whose organization is among those providing resources like Know Your Rights training to immigrants now living under a regime of anxiety and fear."

We discuss the cases of two of Egypt's most prominent political activists, Hossam Bahgat and Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who have both been persecuted by the Egyptian government for exposing its human rights abuses. Bahgat is facing a new round of harassment from Egyptian security forces, while El-Fattah remains in prison past his expected release. El-Fattah's mother, the Cairo University professor Laila Soueif, has been on hunger strike for nearly four months in the U.K., where both she and her son have dual citizenship, demanding that the British government pressure Egypt for El-Fattah's freedom. Her collapse is imminent. She's probably going to be hospitalized soon," says journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who recently spoke to Soueif's family.

As survivors in Gaza begin to return to their homes during the first ceasefire in over a year, we speak to Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Drop Site News about the future of those who have been displaced. As Palestinians are returning to a devastated landscape ... determined not to leave their land" in defiance of plans of ethnic cleansing that have dated back to the 1950s for Israel," President Trump told reporters that he wants to clean out" Gaza, suggesting that Palestinian Arabs should be ethnically cleansed into Egypt and Jordan. Both countries have rejected this, and they've done so since the beginning of this genocidal assault," says Kouddous.

Trump Accused of Backing Ethnic Cleansing After Calling for Clean Out" of Gaza, Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Head Home to North Gaza, Hamas Releases 4 More Israeli Soldiers as Israel Frees 200 Palestinian Prisoners, Israeli Soldiers Shoot and Kill 2-Year-Old Palestinian Laila Muhammad Ayman al-Khatib in West Bank, Israel Fires on Displaced Lebanese Returning to Their Homes as It Continues to Violate Truce, U.S. Freezes All International Aid, Except Military Funding to Israel and Egypt, JD Vance Breaks Senate Tie to Confirm Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, Trump Fires Slew of Independent Federal Watchdogs in Likely Unlawful Move, Colombia, U.S. Agree to Deal on Tariffs and Immigration After Rapid Series of Tit-for-Tat Moves, Chicago School Bars Gov't Agents from Entry as Feds Escalate Immigration Crackdown Nationwide, DOJ to Stop Prosecuting Most People Who Unlawfully Block and Harass Abortion Clinics and Patients, Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Charged with Insurrection, DRC Urges UNSC to Intervene After M23 Rebels Seize Goma in Eastern Congo, Drone Strike on North Darfur Kills 70 Patients; Sudanese Army Blames Paramilitary RSF, Elon Musk Hypes Up Germany's Neo-Nazi AfD Party Ahead of February Election, U.S. Air Force to Continue Teaching Tuskegee Airmen History After Pulling Videos Amid Trump DEI Ban, Swiss Authorities Arrest Ali Abunimah, Journalist and Founder of Electronic Intifada News Site

The prominent British Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah remains imprisoned in Cairo even after he completed his five-year sentence last September. Fattah came to prominence during the Egyptian revolution as a blogger and political activist, and he has been jailed multiple times by the authoritarian government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for his advocacy. His family and supporters continue to demand his freedom and have pressed the U.K. government to pressure Egypt into releasing him. Fattah's mother Laila Soueif is now on her 117th day on hunger strike, standing on Downing Street for at least an hour every workday until her son is released. Now Australian journalist Peter Greste has launched his own hunger strike to pressure the British government, saying he owes his life to the Egyptian activist, who helped him survive when he was imprisoned in Egypt in 2013. I quite literally owe Alaa my life," says Greste. He is the most popular, the most recognized political prisoner in the system, and I think they fear his capacity to mobilize people. They fear his capacity to inspire."

As one of his last acts in office, President Joe Biden issued a posthumous pardon for Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and generations of civil rights leaders. Advocates and congressional leaders had pushed for Biden to pardon Garvey for years, with supporters arguing that Garvey's 1923 mail fraud conviction was politically motivated and an effort to silence the popular leader who spoke of racial pride and self-reliance. This electrified a people around the world that were in the midst of oppression," says Howard University law professor Justin Hansford. Garvey was deported to Jamaica, his birthplace, and died in 1940 in England. Hansford says his story is important to revisit amid Republican attacks on racial justice and Black history, saying the pardon is part of a larger reckoning with U.S. racial injustice. More of our institutions need to look back and acknowledge the harms of the past," he says.

As the Trump administration launches what it touts as the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history, we look at how immigrant communities and advocates are fighting back. The administration already faces some setbacks, including in its attempt to end birthright citizenship, which a federal judge halted Thursday from going into effect because it was blatantly unconstitutional." Thursday's ruling is the first in what's expected to be a long legal battle against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. We're in a moment where there's a ton of fear in the community," says Harold Solis, legal director at Make the Road New York, which has filed its own lawsuit against the government. We also speak with Columbia University historian Mae Ngai, who says the fight over birthright citizenship is part of the long history of restrictionist immigration policies in the country. What we're seeing this week is shock and awe. It's meant to terrorize," she says. We have to fight on all levels."

Newark Mayor Vows to Fight Back After ICE Raid as Feds Launch Nationwide Deportation Operation, Blatantly Unconstitutional": U.S. Judge Blocks Trump Order Ending Birthright Citizenship, State Dept. Halts Passport Applications with Gender Nonbinary X" Sex Marker, Senators Confirm John Ratcliffe as CIA Head and Advance Trump's Energy & Environment Nominees, More Damning Info on Pete Hegseth Surfaces as Senate GOP Poised to Confirm Him as Pentagon Chief, Trump Ultimatum to World Economic Forum: Invest in U.S. or Face Tariffs, Bitcoin Surges After Trump Discusses Cryptocurrency Plans with El Salvador's Bukele, Ongoing Israeli Attacks on West Bank Have Killed 34 Since January 1, Gaza Faces Fresh Hunger Crisis as Israel Readies Ban on U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees, Iraq Approves Child Marriages for Girls as Young as 9, ICC Seeks Arrest of Taliban Leaders for Gender-Based Crimes Against Women and Girls, Amazon Closes Warehouses in Quebec and Lays Off 1,700 After Workers Unionize, Serbian Students and Workers Launch General Strike Against Government Corruption, Sackler Family Increases Opioid Settlement Offer with New Conditions, Northwestern Won't Discipline Professor Steven Thrasher over Gaza Protest, Palestinian-Israeli Film No Other Land" Nominated for Oscar Despite Snubs by U.S. Distributors

While a ceasefire is largely holding in Gaza, Israel is intensifying attacks on the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military has killed at least 13 people in a major military operation targeting Jenin that began on Tuesday when Israeli troops raided the city, backed by airstrikes, drones and U.S.-made Apache helicopters, following a six-week siege. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers in the West Bank have been emboldened" by Trump's lifting of sanctions on far-right Israeli settler groups. Further violence is increasingly likely, says Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian writer and journalist based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. We're seeing Israel wage a war that very much resembles the practices they have committed in Gaza," with Palestinians left completely defenseless," she says. It's a very slow slaughter of Palestinians. If you survive a bullet, you don't know if you're going to survive daily life."

Former FBI special agent Mike German, whose new book Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within chronicles his experience working undercover in far-right, white nationalist militias and warns of the unchecked danger they pose to American society, responds to Trump's mass pardons of January 6 insurrectionists, many of whom were members of or affiliated with far-right militias. The pardons definitely send a message both to the far-right militant movement that political violence against Trump's enemies will be rewarded ... [and] sends a message to law enforcement that there's no value in investigating and prosecuting far-right violence," says German. He also notes that right-wing extremism has already infiltrated much of U.S. law enforcement, making it harder to root out and guard against political violence.

Upon returning to the presidency, Donald Trump has granted presidential pardons to over 1,500 of his supporters involved in the violent January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, including members of far-right, anti-government militias like our guest's father. Guy Wesley Reffitt helped lead the crowd that stormed the Capitol, just weeks after his then-18-year-old son Jackson attempted to warn the FBI about his plans. Jackson Reffitt now believes that Trump's pardons will embolden far-right extremists to commit further political violence, including potential backlash against those close to them. To completely validate actions like that is going to be explosive," says Jackson Reffitt, who is now estranged from his family and fears for his own safety.

In one of his first executive orders after taking office, President Trump ordered the United States to withdraw from the U.N.'s World Health Organization, putting numerous WHO programs at risk, including efforts to tackle tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, says the move is a grave mistake for American national interests and our national security," as well as an attack on science, public health and public health institutions." He warns that the U.S. will likely fall behind on public health innovation and disease prevention, putting the country and the world at greater risk to the next pandemic."

Trump Revokes 6-Decades-Old Ban on Discrimination in Federal Contracting, DOJ Freezes Civil Rights Cases, Orders Prosecution of Local Officials Who Resist Deportation Policy, ACLU Sues Trump over Expedited Deportation Policy as Pentagon Sends Another 1,500 Troops to Border, Trump Health EOs Target Drug Costs, ACA Enrollment, Medicaid Recipients and More, OMB Nominee Russ Vought Defends Social Program Cuts, Welfare Work Requirements, Trump Names Failed 2017 Labor Nominee Andrew Puzder as Ambassador to EU, Palestinians Return to Gaza Neighborhoods Reduced to Rubble by Israel's Bombs, Israeli Troops Surround Hospitals in Jenin, Fire on Medical Workers, U.N. Chief Warns Israeli Leaders Seeking to Fully Annex West Bank, Trump Redesignates Yemen's Houthis as Foreign Terrorist Organization, Thousands Flee M23 Rebels' Advance in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC Files Criminal Complaint Against Apple in Europe over Conflict Minerals in Electronics, Angelenos Warned over Toxic Ashes as Tens of Thousands Evacuate New L.A. Fires, European Regulators Order Dutch Government to Cut Nitrogen Emissions by 2030

The Trump administration has begun its crackdown on immigrant communities in the United States, with the Department of Homeland Security announcing Tuesday it will allow federal agents to conduct raids at schools, houses of worship and hospitals, ending a yearslong policy that banned Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from arresting people at these sensitive locations. This comes a day after President Trump signed a series of executive orders that included declaring a national emergency" at the southern border, launching mass raids and deportations, restricting federal funds from sanctuary cities, and claiming to end birthright citizenship, which is protected by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. For more on the fight for immigrant rights, we speak with immigrant rights activists Ravi Ragbir and Amy Gottlieb and lawyer Alina Das. Ragbir received a last-minute pardon from outgoing President Joe Biden that removed the threat of deportation that he has faced for about two decades. I feel so light and so free," Ragbir says, vowing to continue his advocacy for other people facing arrest and deportation.

Many Silicon Valley companies and their billionaire owners have formed a symbiotic relationship" with Donald Trump, showering the president and his administration with money and adulation in exchange for friendly policies, according to researcher Becca Lewis. She says that while Silicon Valley has always had reactionary currents, the Biden administration's stricter regulation of the industry led to a decisive break with Democrats, who had previously benefited from Big Tech's cash and influence. Now you see a wholehearted embrace of Trump with the hopes of deregulation," says Lewis.

President Donald Trump's return to the White House comes almost exactly 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Citizens United ruling, which opened the floodgates for corporations and billionaires to pour unlimited money into elections. At Trump's inauguration on Monday, the front row included several of the world's richest and most powerful men, including Tesla's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai. Their collective net worth is over $1 trillion. For more on money in politics and the legacy of Citizens United, we speak with Brendan Fischer, the deputy executive director at Documented, an investigative watchdog and journalism project. Democrats and Republicans have both embraced super PACs and embraced the megadonors that fund them, but Trump is taking this to another level," says Fischer, who notes that about 44% of Trump's election was funded by just 10 megadonors.

The Trump administration is facing four lawsuits over the formation of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a new government advisory committee headed by the world's richest man, Elon Musk. One of these lawsuits is being brought by the watchdog organization Public Citizen, which says DOGE fails to comply with laws on the composition and reporting duties of such bodies. Musk's role in this government is part of a broader convergence of corporate and government power ... that doesn't really have a parallel in American history," says Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman, who calls it profoundly dangerous."

On Tuesday, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde gave the sermon at the inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington. Directly addressing President Trump in the front row, she urged him to have mercy" on immigrants and LGBTQ people targeted by his policies. We play an excerpt from her sermon.

Trump Takes Steps to Weaponize Justice Department, Reassigning Key Prosecutors, 22 States Sue to Block Trump's Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship, Trump Administration to Allow ICE Raids at Churches, Hospitals and Schools, Israeli Forces Raid Jenin, Killing 10 Palestinians, Newly Freed Palestinians Describe Torture and Ill-Treatment in Israeli Jails, Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Child in Southern Gaza Despite Ceasefire, Four Injured in Tel Aviv Stabbing Attack, Israeli General Who Led Campaign That Devastated Gaza to Resign over October 7 Failures, Trump's U.N. Ambassador Pick Elise Stefanik Says Israel Has a Biblical Right" to West Bank, Google Provided AI Tech to Israel Despite Public Pronouncements, Panama's President Rejects Trump's Threats to Retake Panama Canal, Former Sister-in-Law Describes Violent and Threatening Behavior by Pete Hegseth, Leaders of Capitol Insurrection Freed from Prison After Trump's Pardons and Commutations, Costco Union Members Authorize Strike by 18,000 Workers at 56 Warehouses

Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier is coming home after nearly half a century behind bars. Just minutes before leaving office, former President Joe Biden granted Peltier clemency and ordered his release from prison to serve the remainder of his life sentence in home confinement. In a statement, Peltier said, It's finally over - I'm going home. I want to show the world I'm a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me." Biden's historic decision came after mounting calls by tribal leaders and supporters, and a community-led campaign that fought for Peltier's freedom for decades. We speak with the NDN Collective's Nick Tilsen, who just visited Leonard Peltier in prison after news of his sentence commutation, about fighting for Peltier's freedom, his health and Trump's executive orders attacking environmental rights and Indigenous sovereignty. Indigenous people, we're going to be on the frontlines fighting this administration."

On his first day back in the White House, Donald Trump moved to roll back protections for transgender people. In his inaugural address, Trump declared the U.S. government's policy is there are only two genders: male and female." Chase Strangio, co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBTQ & HIV Project, describes Trump's executive orders aimed at pushing a slew of policies that just seek to both eradicate trans people from civic and public life and also push trans people out of federal government." Trans people are bracing themselves for a lot of negative outcomes here, not just symbolic, but really material ones," says Strangio. I know the community is scared. I know people are confused. And in this chaos, we just have to come together and build all the forms of resistance we know how to."

As immigrant communities are bracing for raids and mass deportations promised by Donald Trump, the future for thousands of asylum seekers is also uncertain. As Trump took office, his administration immediately shut down the Biden-era CBP One mobile app, used by Customs and Border Protection to manage asylum requests at ports of entry. Thousands of asylum seekers lost their appointments scheduled for Trump's first day in office, January 20. People are afraid. Their lives are uncertain, especially those who have children, those who have fled extreme conditions. Now their lives are once again at risk," says Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, who describes how immigrant communities are preparing to resist Trump's agenda. We stand ready, committed to push back against the policies that are being created to criminalize people of color and people of immigrant backgrounds."

During Donald Trump's inaugural address on Monday, he declared a national emergency at the southern border. On the first day back in office, Trump signed a number of executive orders on immigration that seek to end birthright citizenship and use military resources for Trump's border policies. This is a massive abuse of emergency power," says Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. These emergency powers are intended to address sudden, unexpected crises ... that are moving too quickly for Congress to be able to address. That is not unlawful immigration at the border. It is not sudden or unexpected, and it is something that Congress can and should be addressing through comprehensive immigration reform."

During Monday's inauguration, Donald Trump repeated his threat to retake the Panama Canal. The United States controlled the waterway since the early 20th century, but in 1977 President Jimmy Carter signed a landmark treaty to give Panama control of the canal. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez debunks Trump's grossly false" claims about the canal's history. The Panama Canal was created at gunpoint by the United States," says Juan Gonzalez. The entire myth that Trump has created is entirely false and needs to be challenged."

President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday as the nation's 47th president. The inauguration took place inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the same spot where Trump's supporters staged an insurrection on January 6, 2021, in a violent attempt to keep him in power after he lost the 2020 race. Hours after Monday's inauguration, Trump granted full, complete and unconditional" presidential pardons for about 1,500 people involved in the January 6 insurrection. He also commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, many of whom had been convicted of seditious conspiracy. The expansiveness of the pardon, the glee with which the pardon was issued, is striking," says Jeff Sharlet, an expert on the far right, who describes the overtures Trump and his close allies made to white supremacists and antisemites during the first day of Trump's presidency.