A tattoo artist has caused a stir after inking a nine-year-old girl.

The unnamed child and her parents traveled from out of state to Arizona-based tattoo parlour Black Onyx Empire.

It’s thought the girl first got the inking last year, and recently returned to the establishment for a touch-up.

It’s on her second visit that Black Onyx Empire shared a video of the girl getting her tattoo to its socials.

An Arizona-based tattoo parlour inked a nine-year-old girl (blackonyxempire/Instagram)

When the girl and her family rocked up to the parlour, the nine-year-old said that she wanted a portrait of president-elect Donald Trump on her neck.

But the tattoo artist, who is simply goes by Sosa, managed to convince the girl and her parents to go with a different design.

Ultimately, she ended up with an American flag on her arm.

While the decision to ink the elementary school child was undeniably questionable, it’s not illegal to tattoo a minor in Arizona.

As per the state’s legislation, it’s okay to tattoo someone under the age of 18 if their parents are present.

The law explains that it’s an unlawful act ‘to intentionally brand, scarify, implant, mutilate, tattoo or pierce the body of a person who is under eighteen years of age without the physical presence of the parent or legal guardian of the person requesting the brand, scar, tattoo, implant, mutilation or piercing’.

While Sosa was within his legal rights to do the inking, he and his parlour have received a lot of criticism.

Speaking out on the backlash he’s received, Sosa told Arizona’s Family: “Any publicity is good publicity.

“I’d rather have good publicity, however, this is just a debate.”

The girl had the tattoo done at Black Onyx Empire (Arizona’s Family)

He insisted that there’s more to the story, and that the family, who hail from Turkey, have a special place in their hearts for America in light of the opportunities they’ve had since relocating there.

“They’re very grateful to be here in the United States,” Sosa said, adding that they see Donald Trump as a ‘hero’.

While he stands by his decision, the tattooist insisted that he’s not trying to promote children getting tattoos and doesn’t have his own kids tattooed.

As well as encouraging the family to choose a different design, apparently Sosa massively overcharged them in the hopes of deterring the parents from paying for the inking to be done, New York Post reports.

While it should have cost around $80, Sosa charged then $500.

UNILAD have approached the tattooist for further comment.

Donald Trump has openly announced that he’s firing more than one thousand government workers and ‘presidential appointees’ just hours after he was sworn in as the United States’ 47th president.

Trump officially took over from Joe Biden at his inauguration ceremony at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. yesterday (January 20), when he took the presidential oath to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States’.

The day was marked with a church service, tea at the White House and even an inauguration ball, but that didn’t stop Trump from immediately wielding his new power.

Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20 (MORRY GASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In a post shared on his Truth Social platform hours after his inauguration, Trump announced that his first day in the White House was ‘not over yet’.

He continued: “My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”

Trump even went as far as to name some of the employees he was letting go, drawing on his old Apprentice catchphrase as he did so.

The post read: “Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon.

“Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council – YOU’RE FIRED!”

But it seems some workers beat the new president to his firing…

Trump announced his firings on Truth Social (X/@TrumpDailyPosts)

Jose Andres

In spite of Trump’s declaration that he was firing Andres, the chef responded to the claim that he’d actually submitted his own resignation last week.

“My 2 year term was already up,” he wrote on Twitter, in response to Trump’s announcement. “I was honored to serve as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. My fellow council members – unpaid volunteers like me – were hardworking, talented people who inspired me every day.

“I’m proud of what we accomplished on behalf of the American people…like a historic partnership between the White House and every major sports league to increase access to sports and health programs for kids.”

Andres urged Trump to allow the Council to ‘continue to advocate for fitness and good health for all Americans.’

Jose Andres claimed he resigned before being fired (X/@chefjoseandres)

Mark Milley

Milley, a retired army general, was the most senior uniformed officer at the Pentagon as chair of the joint chiefs of staff under Joe Biden, and previously under Trump during his first term.

In recent years, Milley became critical of Trump and declared him a ‘total fascist’.

Speaking to veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, Milley said of Trump: “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country.”

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Similarly to Andres, Bottoms claimed that she submitted her resignation from the President’s Export Council on January 4, writing in a social media post cited by Atlanta First News: “You can’t fire someone who has already resigned. Of all the things happening in the world, not sure why I’m on Donald Trump’s mind at 1:30 am following his inauguration, but I count it as a badge of honor.”

Prior to her resignation, Bottoms was a senior adviser on former President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, having previously served one term as Atlanta mayor.

Brian Hook

Brian Hook also previously worked for Trump, having served as special envoy for Iran from 2018 to 2020. Prior to his apparent firing, Hook had been appointed to the Washington, D.C.–based think tank, Wilson Center for Scholars.

The Bishop of Washington has issued a response to Donald Trump’s five-word comment after she asked him to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and migrants.

President Trump certainly hasn’t wasted any time getting his feet under the table since returning to The White House on Monday (January 20).

Within just his first 24 hours in the Oval Office, Trump signed off a number of executive orders, including a policy stating there are ‘only two genders’ alongside many orders blocking migrants from being able to enter the US.

Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde asked the president to show ‘mercy’ to LGBTQ+ people and migrants during a service at the Washington National Cathedral following Trump’s inauguration.

Making ‘one final plea’ with the president, Right Rev. Budde said: “Mr President, millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God.

“I the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.

Donald Trump has wasted no time signing off on multiple executive orders (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”

The bishop concluded her emotional speech by asking Trump once more to ‘have mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away’ and for the president to ‘help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here’.

Well, Trump quickly responded to the personal address, dubbing it ‘not too exciting’ and that he ‘didn’t think it was a good service,’ before concluding: “They could do much better.”

Right Rev. Bubble has since responded to the comments made by President Trump in an interview with CNN.

She said: “[I was] reminding us all that the people that are frightened in our country, the two groups that I mentioned, are our fellow human beings, and that they have been portrayed all throughout the political campaign in the harshest of lights.

Right Rev. Budde issued a ‘plea’ to the president (CBS News)

“I wanted to counter, as gently as I could, with a reminder of their humanity and their place in our wider community.”

The bishop continued: “I was speaking to the president because I felt that he has this moment now where he feels charged and empowered to do what he feels called to do, and I wanted to say there is room for mercy. There is room for a broader compassion.

“We don’t need to portray with a broad cloth in the harshest of terms some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who are in fact our neighbors and our friends.”

The Bishop of Washington issued a ‘plea’ to Donald Trump to show ‘mercy’ to LGBTQ+ people and migrants.

Within just 24 hours into his presidency as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump wasted no time signing off on multiple executive orders, including a policy stating there are ‘only two genders’ alongside many orders blocking migrants from being able to enter – and remain in – the country.

During a service held on January 21 at the Washington National Cathedral following Trump’s inauguration, Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde asked the new president to show ‘mercy’ to LGBTQ+ people and migrants.

The bishop’s ‘plea’

Making ‘one final plea,’ Right Rev. Budde said: “Mr President, millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God.

“I the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.

“And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labour in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”

Trump’s response

Budde resolved by asking Trump once more to ‘have mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away’ and for the president to ‘help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here’.

After the service, Trump branded it ‘not too exciting’ and he ‘didn’t think it was a good service,’ concluding: “They could do much better.”

Donald Trump wasted no time signing off on multiple executive ordesr (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The executive orders

Within the 25 executive orders listed on the White House website during the first 24 hours of Trump’s inauguration, the president signed off on an official policy ‘restoring biological truth to the federal government’

The policy recognizes ‘two sexes, male and female’ and states them as not being ‘changeable’ but ‘grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality’. It goes on to state federal agents are ordered to ‘enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes’, removing ‘all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology, and shall cease issuing such statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications or other messages’.

Right Rev. Budde issued a ‘plea’ to the president (CBS News)

Multiple other executive orders address how the country treats migrants and what it means to qualify as an American citizen, orders limiting birthright citizenship and ‘securing’ borders. It also includes ‘protecting American people’ against ‘millions of illegal aliens’ crossing the borders, alongside ‘protecting the US from foreign terrorists’ and ‘protecting the territorial integrity’ of the US.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.