President Donald J. Trump is kicking up the speed as we roll into his second week in office. He’s already facing mounting lawsuits against his attacks on DEI, gender identification, the 14th Amendment, and more, but you can’t be surprised that he’s seemingly unfazed by it all.
In fact, Trump is doubling down on most of his political calls from his first week. And so as we prepare to endure the next four years, The Root is taking a closer look at some of the most impactful events shaping Trump’s first weeks.
1. DeepSeek AI
Whether you like it or not, artificial intelligence is already impacting the day to day lives of Americans, but with a growing rush to perfect one of technology’s most promising— and most scary— inventions yet, competition is bound to follow.
DeepSeek is a Chinese founded, owned, and operated AI company making big waves across the global market. In fact, DeepSeek’s AI assistant, which competes with the likes of ChatGPT, became the No. 1 downloaded free app in the Apple store Monday (Jan. 27), according to CNN.
In light of recent TikTok controversy, DeepSeek’s rise poses a similar threat to the U.S. tech world. A recent research paper was reportedly published on the same day as Trump’s inauguration. The paper detailed another DeepSeek AI model showing advanced “reasoning” skills, according to CNN.
DeepSeek aims to be the forefront of AI, which has many American companies scared. As tensions between China and America continue to rise, experts say this debacle surrounding DeepSeek has the potential to become another “Sputnik” moment.
2. Tariffs
Before his election, President Trump had threatened several countries with tariffs if they don’t follow his wishes. And over the weekend, Trump went head-to-head with the leader of Colombia after President Gustavo Petro refused to allow two military aircrafts carrying undocumented Colombian migrants to land, according to Politico.
Trump responded with threatening 25 percent tariffs on all Colombian goods, which eventually led to him getting exactly what he wanted. But outside of Colombia, Trump’s defensive stance with several countries could come back to bite him
“People in Latin America are extremely worried,” said Jorge Heine, the former Chilean ambassador to China. For South America “the message is that it’s not a good idea to be very closely interlinked with the United States, because you might pay a heavy price,” continued Heine.
3. Threats Against the 14 Amendment
On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order attacking birthright citizenship, the constitutional right giving automatic citizenship to any person born in the states. Although it was framed as an attack on immigration, Trump is already catch heat over what many say actually attacks the U.S. Constitution.
According to PBS, over 22 states have filed lawsuits against Trump’s executive order, saying it goes directly against the 14th Amendment— which explicitly protects birthright citizenship. More states and activists are expected to file their own suits. The announced executive order will take effect in less than 30 days.
4. Even More Executive Orders
If you thought Trump would stop with the executive orders, then we got some bad news... Announced Monday (Jan. 27) evening, the president signed four more orders, all of which directly impact the Department of Defense (DOD).
Trump revoked former President Biden’s 2021 executive order supporting transgender people’s right to serve. The president’s new order prevents trans people from openly serving in the military, according to CNN. He said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
Additionally, Trump reinstated military members dismissed over COVID-19 vaccine mandates, green lit the development of a missile defense shield for U.S. protection, and doubled down on anti-DEI efforts saying he would “abolish” every DEI office within the DOD and Department of Homeland Security, according to the White House.