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US President Donald Trump has said that he would have chosen Usha Chilukuri Vance, JD Vance’s wife, as his Vice President as “she is smarter but the line of succession did not work that way”.

Usha, 39, on Monday, became the first Indian-American and Hindu Second Lady after her husband JD was sworn in as the 50th Vice President of the US.

On Monday, wearing a pink coat, she held the Bible in one hand and their daughter Mirabel Rose in the other, as Vance placed his left hand on the religious text, and raising his right hand took the oath of office.

As a lawyer who is the daughter of Indian immigrants — her parents’ ancestral village is Vadluru in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh — Usha is also one of the youngest second ladies assuming the position.

She is the youngest second lady since 38-year-old Jane Hadley Barkley, the wife of former President Harry Truman's Vice President Alben Barkley.

After Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States with JD as his deputy, the 78-year-old Republican. while addressing a crowd, praised his team, especially JD, for his successful re-election bid.

“I watch JD over a period of time. I endorsed him in Ohio. He was a great senator and a very, very smart one,” said Trump, but added, “The only one smarter is his wife.”

As everyone around the hall laughed, Trump looked at JD and said, “I would have chosen her but somehow the line of succession didn’t work that way, right? She is great and he is great. This a great, beautiful couple and an unbelievable career.”

Usha’s rise as second lady comes as Indian Americans have become more politically active during recent election cycles and have stood as candidates on the national stage, including several who ran for president in 2024, the Hill reported.

“My background is very different from JD’s,” she said at the Republican National Convention in July.

“I grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community with two loving parents, both immigrants from India, and a wonderful sister. That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this great country.” Usha is Hindu, raised by Indian immigrant parents in California. Her husband credits her with helping him return to his faith.

Vance told the Megyn Kelly Show podcast in 2020: “If I maybe get a little bit too cocky or a little too proud, I just remind myself that she is way more accomplished than I am. People don’t realise just how brilliant she is.”

Usha and Vance met at Yale Law School while studying and later married in 2014 in Kentucky. The ceremony was blessed by a Hindu priest at a different event, according to a New York Times profile.

The Vances have three children: sons Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter named Mirabel.

Asked about the challenges of an interfaith marriage, Usha said, “There are a lot of things that we just agree on, I think, especially when it comes to family life, how to raise our kids. And so, I think the answer really is, we just talk a lot.”

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing America from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the second time in less than five years that the US has ordered to withdraw from the world body.

It was among dozens of executive actions he signed after being sworn in on Monday for a second term, on issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy to climate change.

The WHO came under intense criticism from Trump in 2020 for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which grew into a worldwide health crisis during the final year of his first term. “That’s a big one,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House when an aid presented to him an executive order on this to be signed by him.

“We paid USD 500 million to World Health when I was here, and I terminated it. China, with 1.4 billion people, has 350 dependents... nobody knows what we have because so many people came in illegally. But let's say we have 325 (million people). They (China) had 1.4 billion people. They were paying USD39 million. We were paying USD500 million. It seemed a little unfair to me,” he said.

“That wasn't the reason, but I dropped out (of WHO). They offered me to come back for USD39 million. In theory, it should be less than that, but, when Biden came back, they came back for USD500 million. He knew that you could have come back for USD39 million. They wanted us back so badly. So, we'll see what happens,” he said.

The order said Trump was sending a presidential letter to the United Nations secretary-general to formally notify him of the US plan to withdraw.

“The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2020 due to the organisation’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states,” said the executive order.

“In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 per cent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 per cent less to the WHO,” it said adding that the United States intends to withdraw from the WHO.

The global health body stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding following Trump's order.

This is Trump’s second attempt to withdraw the US from the WHO.

In July 2020, he sent a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus notifying him of the US intention to withdraw within a year. Trump accused the WHO at the time of helping China mislead the world about the spread of Covid-19.

But Trump was defeated in that year’s election, and when President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he reversed Trump’s decision.

This time, Trump will still be in office when the withdrawal would go into effect.

The Executive Order also calls for establishing directorates and coordinating mechanisms within the National Security Council apparatus as he deems necessary and appropriate to safeguard public health and fortify biosecurity.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects.

The interior secretary will review wind leasing and permitting practices for federal waters and lands. The assessment will consider the environmental impact of wind projects on wildlife, the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry, the order states.

Trump wants to increase drilling for oil and gas and has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. Trump's pick for interior secretary, Doug Burgum, was asked during his confirmation hearing whether he would commit to continuing with offshore wind leases that have been issued. Burgum said projects that make sense and are already in law will continue.

Wind power currently provides about 10% of the electricity generated in the United States, making it the nation's largest source of renewable energy. There is 73 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity under development in the US, enough to power 30 million homes, according to the American Clean Power Association.

The order also temporarily prohibits Magic Valley Energy from continuing to develop the Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho. The federal government approved a scaled-down plan for the wind farm in December over local opposition, including from groups concerned about its proximity to a historic site where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to end the offshore wind industry as soon as he returned to the White House. He wants to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, which cause climate change, in order for the US to have the lowest-cost energy and electricity of any nation in the world, he says.

It's unclear how much authority he has to stop wind projects, particularly those that have their federal permits. His order will likely be challenged in court, much like an executive order President Joe Biden signed soon after taking office in 2021 that suspended new oil and gas lease sales was challenged.

Trump says wind turbines are horrible, only work with subsidies and are “many, many times” more expensive than natural gas. Offshore wind is among the sources of new power generation that will cost the most, at about $100 per megawatt hour for new projects connecting to the grid in 2028, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration. That includes tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, which reduces the cost of renewable technologies.

However, onshore wind is one of the cheapest sources, at about $31 on average for new projects. New natural gas plants are expected to produce electricity at nearly $43 per megawatt hour, according to the estimates.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the State Department that the foreign policy of the US shall “champion core American interests” and always put America and its citizens first.

Trump signed the Executive Order on Mondy soon after Marco Rubio was confirmed by the US Senate as his Secretary of State.

“From this day forward, the foreign policy of the United States shall champion core American interests and always put America and American citizens first,” Trump said in his executive order.

“As soon as practicable, the Secretary of State shall issue guidance bringing the Department of State’s policies, programmes, personnel, and operations in line with an America First foreign policy, which puts America and its interests first,” the executive order said.

In another executive order, Trump asked for enhanced screening of the visa application process.

“The United States must identify them before their admission or entry into the United States,” it said.

The US must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the country do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to the national security, Trump said in the executive order.

It re-establishes a uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures, consistent with the uniform baseline that existed on January 19, 2021, that will be used for any alien seeking a visa or immigration benefit of any kind.

Trump has asked for vetting and screening to the maximum degree possible, of all foreign nationals who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the US, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks.

He also ordered identifying countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.

Trump ordered evaluation of all visa programmes to ensure that they are not used by foreign nation-states or other hostile actors to harm the security, economic, political, cultural, or other national interests of the United States.

Among other things, the executive order asks to evaluate the adequacy of programmes designed to ensure the proper assimilation of lawful immigrants into the United States and recommend any additional measures to be taken that promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States.