WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is spending his first full day back in the White House meeting with congressional leaders, announcing an investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and demonstrating one of his favored expressions of power: firing people.
The new president posted on his Truth social media network early Tuesday that he would fire more than 1,000 presidential appointees “who are not aligned with our vision,” including some high-profile names.
Trump fired chef and humanitarian Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, retired Gen. Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former State Department official Brian Hook from the board of the Wilson Center and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.
“YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump said in his post — his catchphrase from his reality TV show, “The Apprentice.”
Former President Joe Biden also removed many Trump appointees in his first days in office, including former press secretary Sean Spicer from the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Academy.
Trump was set to continue building on his barrage of Inauguration Day announcements on Tuesday with plans to announce a new partnership to invest in artificial intelligence.
Three major business leaders — SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison — were scheduled to join Trump in the afternoon to announce the creation of a new company called Stargate, which would invest up to $500 billion over the next four years in AI infrastructure, according to the White House.
Stargate intends to start building the project in Texas.
Trump also attended a national prayer service Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral, a customary visit for new presidents and one that will wrap up his four days of inauguration-related events.
One of the speakers at the interfaith service, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, used her sermon to send a message to Trump, urging compassion for LGBTQ+ people and undocumented migrant workers.
“You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, who has criticized Trump before.
Asked afterward by a reporter what he thought of the service, Trump said: “Not too exciting was it. I didn’t think it was a good service. They could do much better.”
Later in the day, the president was expected to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other GOP legislators. It’s the first formal sit-down for the GOP leadership teams, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso and the new president, as they chart priorities for using Republican power in Washington.
Despite an ambitious 100-day agenda, the Republican-led Congress is not on the same page on some ideas and strategies as they rush to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportations and other goals for Trump.
Trump used the first hours of his presidency on Monday to sign a series of executive orders and memorandums, moving quickly to show that his new hold on the U.S. government would be a stark change from his predecessor.
He pardoned hundreds of people for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords and the World Health Organization, began his immigration crackdown by declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and sought to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in America, which is expected to run into constitutional challenges.
He also signed an order that intends to pause a ban on TikTok for 75 days to give its China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer.
