President-elect Donald Trump vowed punishment Monday that on his first day in office, he would impose a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States from Mexico and Canada.

“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump said that on Jan. 20, in one of his first executive orders, he would sign all the necessary paperwork to levy a 25% tariff on all products arriving from the U.S.’s North American neighbours.

“This Tariff will remain in effect until Drugs, in particular, Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he wrote. “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long-simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

Trump said in another Truth Social post that he also would levy an additional 10% tariff on top of existing tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States.

“I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail,” he wrote. “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through.”

Trump said the additional tariff on Chinese goods would remain in place until it stops allowing illegal drugs to pour into the U.S.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump threatened to crack down on illegal migrant crossings along the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico and to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the country. He has vowed to declare a national emergency and use military assets to deport a record number of immigrants who are in the United States illegally.

Despite Trump’s claim that drugs and crime are at never-before-seen levels, violent crime in the United States declined for the third straight year in 2023, including instances of murder, rape and assault, according to estimates released by the FBI in September.

Trump’s decision to use tariffs as a weapon to fight illegal immigration and drugs could be a double-edged sword. Economists warn that slapping tariffs on products shipped into the United States could drive up inflation and interest rates and result in higher consumer prices. Tariffs are taxes on merchandise shipped to the U.S. from other countries.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith, who filed two criminal cases against Donald Trump, the US president-elect, has asked the judge to drop both of them.

A court filing on Monday by the department of justice cited constitutional protections for sitting presidents, ensuring Trump faces no prosecution before taking office on January 20 next year.

“It has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president,” the filing reads.

“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind.”

The development means that Trump will not be called to answer for any wrongdoing before his inauguration.

“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” Smith added in the six-page filing.

A judge must sign off on both decisions for them to be officially dismissed. Smith requested both cases be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning the charges could be refiled after Trump finishes his second term.

The election case was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats against Trump as he battled to reclaim the White House.

However, the businessman tactically sidestepped the indictment without sinking his presidential bid, using political play to beat the legal system.

Trump said he would fire Smith once he returns to the office, shattering previous norms around special counsel investigations.

Britain’s former deputy prime minister, John Prescott, who served under Tony Blair and with him helped transform the country’s Labour party, has died at 86, his family said on Thursday.

“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away yesterday (Wednesday) at the age of 86,” a statement read.

Blair, the privately educated lawyer who appointed working-class Prescott to help appease the Labour left as he moved the party to the centre ground, said he was “devastated” at Prescott’s death.

“There was no one quite like him in British politics,” he told BBC radio.

Keir Starmer, who became Labour’s first prime minister since 2010 after a landslide general election win in July, called Prescott “a true giant of the Labour movement”.

“He was a staunch defender of working people and a proud trade unionist. During a decade as deputy prime minister, he was one of the key architects of a Labour government that transformed the lives of millions of people across the nation,” he added.

“So much of John’s work set the path for those of us fortunate enough to follow. From leading climate negotiations to fighting regional inequality, his legacy will live on well beyond his lifetime.”

Prescott, a former merchant seaman and trade union activist who served as a member of parliament for Hull in northern England for four decades, died “peacefully” at a care home, his wife Pauline, and two sons said.

“He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery,” they added.

Prescott, who was appointed to the House of Lords, suffered a stroke in 2019 and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. He stopped being a member of the upper chamber of parliament in July because of his health problems.

Plain-speaking, Prescott served for 10 years as Blair’s deputy following Labour’s landslide 1997 general election win. During a campaign stop in north Wales he punched a protester who threw an egg at him.

But he also acted as a mediator between Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown, who also helmed the transformation of Labour in the 1990s and who had designs on power.

Prescott’s brief included the environment and transport, as well as leading negotiations for Britain for the international Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Blair said in a 2007 letter to Prescott that he saw his role as “smoothing out colleagues and sorting out colleagues and trouble-shooting”.

“The completely unique Prescott blend of charm and brutality… got you through the decade, kept the government together and above all, gave me a lot of fun. I was lucky to have you as my deputy,” he told him.