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January 20: a flurry of decrees
Trump signed a record 26 decrees on his first day back in the Oval Office. His first acts set the tone, pulling the US out of the World Health Organization (WHO) and pardoning the rioters who invaded the US Capitol four years earlier.
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February 4: Trump proposes Gaza takeover
During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, could become "the Riviera of the Middle East." He announced a plan for the US to take control of the territory to redevelop it, expressing hopes Palestinians could be removed from Gaza, provoking international outrage.
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February 12: Trump, Musk, Musk Jr meet the press
Trump's billionaire ally, Elon Musk, and his young son joined the president for a news conference in the Oval Office. Musk, who is leading federal cost-cutting efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency - DOGE - dismissed criticisms of a lack of transparency and possible conflicts of interest. His son X - full name X Æ A-Xii - chattered and squirmed during his remarks.
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February 12: Trump brings Putin in from the cold
Trump ended years of diplomatic isolation of Vladimir Putin, holding a 90-minute phone with the Russian leader. A second call followed on February 28, and several US-Russian meetings from which European powers were excluded. The rapprochement has so far led to two exchanges of prisoners between the two countries.
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February 14: Vance lectures Europe
At the Munich Security Conference, Vice President JD Vance shocked European leaders, chiding them for restricting freedom of speech, telling them to "step up" on defence and criticising them over immigration. His broadside and others that followed from the Trump administration signalled an end to the old trans-Atlantic certainties regarding US support for Europe.
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February 28: Zelensky humiliated
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was subjected to a verbal assault by Trump and Vance, who denounced him for his lack of gratitude for US support during a tense meeting before the cameras at the White House. "Trump and Vance are doing Putin's dirty work," Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had posted on social media.
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March 7 Trump goes after universities
The Trump administration accused several universities of tolerating antisemitism at demonstrations on campus denouncing Israel's war in Gaza. It cut $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University over claims the institution stood by "in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students" following anti-Israel protests. More recently, it has frozen $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University, threatening to strip its tax-exempt status as a non-profit institution after it resisted moves to submit to government oversight.
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March 15: Mass expulsions to El Salvador
The Trump administration used a wartime law to justify the expulsion of more than 200 suspected gang members to a high-security jail in El Salvador. Challenged by the courts, the affair has gone to the Supreme Court. The executive branch has refused to back down and one federal judge now says there is "probable cause" to find the administration in contempt of court for ignoring a stay order on the expulsions.
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March 26: US should take over Greenland
Trump doubled down on comments in December that the US needs Greenland and refused to rule out the use of force two days before a visit there by Vance and his wife. "We need Greenland for international safety and security," he says. "We have to have it." Danish leaders reacted sharply, and the Vances did not, in the end, meet members of Greenlandic society, restricting their visit to the US military base there.
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April 2-9: Trump starts tariffs war
On April 2, Trump announced a wave of huge tariffs against swaths of the world's countries, accusing them of taking advantage of the United States. By April 9, the day his tariffs were due to come into force, Trump performed a partial climbdown. He reduced tariffs on most of the world's imports to a blanket 10 per cent for a 90-day period, while China tariffs soared to 145 per cent on many imports. The crisis rattled world markets, sent the price of gold soaring and hit the value of the dollar.