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Donald Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago will begin to leave prison on Tuesday, after the newly installed president issued a sweeping pardon that signalled he intends to make aggressive use of his executive power, Reuters reports.
The Republican president’s pardon of 1,500 defendants on Monday drew outrage from lawmakers who were endangered in the 6 January, 2021, attack, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Congress from certifying his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia who had his 18-year prison sentence commuted, was released early on Tuesday after midnight in Cumberland, Maryland.
FILE – Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, on June 25, 2017. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP
Rhodes did not enter the US Capitol on 6 January, but he was found guilty for plotting to use force against Congress to prevent the election certification.
He was also accused of helping to stockpile firearms at a hotel in nearby Virginia that could be ferried across the river to Washington.
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The Democratic party former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has described it as “shameful” and “an outrageous insult” that newly inaugurated president Donald Trump has made pardons for those involved in the 6 January Capitol riot a top priority.
In the statement, Pelosi said:
Tonight, the president announced pardons and commutations of sentences for those who violently attacked the Capitol and law enforcement officers on 6 January. The president’s actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the constitution.
It is shameful that the president has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power. Despite the president’s decision, we must always remember the extraordinary courage and valor of the law enforcement heroes who stood in the breach and ensured that democracy survived on that dark day.”
Trump on Monday issued “full, complete and unconditional” presidential pardons for about 1,500 people who were involved in the January 6 attack on Congress, including some convicted of violent acts. Among those whose sentences were commuted was Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia.
Sam Jones is the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent
Spain’s labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, has announced that she has stopped using X following Elon Musk’s apparent Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
In a post on Bluesky, Díaz wrote: “For months now, Elon Musk has been using X for political ends. It has stopped being a tool for communication, or a social network, and has become a propaganda mechanism that uses its algorithm to favour some ideas over others and, by doing so, affect public opinion. Last night, the entire planet could see Elon Musk emulating the Nazi salute in the context of Donald Trump’s inauguration. It was a very stark image that has led me to make a decision I’ve been considering for months … From now on, I will not be using my [X] account.”
Elon Musk appears to give fascist-style salute after Trump inauguration – video
Díaz’s announcement came hours after Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, urged Europe to resist a big tech “class” trying to influence western governments and public debate through its “absolute power over social media”.
On Monday, Sánchez told a conference on artificial intelligence: “Faced with this we have to fight back and we must put forward alternatives … Europe must stand up to this threat and defend democracy.”
Elsewhere in Spain, the media have noted that Trump yesterday incorrectly claimed that Spain is among the BRICS nations (chiefly Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), and the country could face 100% US tariffs on its products.
David Smith
My colleague David Smith in Washington had this sketch of yesterday’s events:
When the obituary of planet Earth is written, there may be a prominent slot for what took place in a basketball and ice hockey arena in downtown Washington on 20 January, 2025.
It was here that, with a wry head shake and gleeful twirl of the pen, Donald Trump again withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement, to the joy and jubilation of 20,000 spectators apparently indifferent to fate of the pale blue dot they live on.
“We’re going to save over a trillion dollars by withdrawing from that treaty,” gushed an aide at Trump’s prompting, implying that watching the world burn is a small price to pay.
This was the moment it really hit home. Trump is back. The human wrecking ball who left a trail of chaos and division in his first four years has returned with a vengeance. America voted for this. People will get hurt.
Monday’s first batch of executive orders, contained in black folders, was also a reminder of Trump’s insatiable appetite for spectacle. His swearing in and inauguration parade had been brought indoors because of extreme cold weather. Naturally he saw an opportunity to turn it into a reality TV show.
Read more of David Smith’s sketch here: Trump the wrecking ball brings chaos to order, executing a parade of grievances
There has been diplomatic reaction from China to president Donald Trump’s opening blitz of policy announcements on inauguration day.
During the regular daily foreign ministry briefing, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China is concerned at Trump’s announcement the US is again withdrawing from the Paris climate deal. Reuters quotes the official saying China is actively responding to climate change and will jointly promote global green and low-carbon transition.
The spokesperson also said that the World Health Organization should only be strengthened, not weakened. He said China would continue to support it in fulfilling its responsibilities. Trump has ordered the US to pull out of the UN health agency.
If you didn’t watch any of Donald Trump’s inauguration yesterday, or just want a reminder, our video team have put together this report highlighting the key moments.
Key moments from Donald Trump’s inauguration – video
Archie Bland
For the Guardian’s First Edition newsletter this morning, my colleague Archie Bland has this to say about Donald Trump’s inauguration speech yesterday:
The closest to an “American carnage” style soundbite this time around was the much more anodyne promise that 20 January would be remembered as “liberation day”. And Trump read out some poor speechwriter’s attempt at soaring rhetoric in the same tone he might use to repeat a particularly complex delivery order.
Still, if you listened to the detail, the same nihilistic picture, of a nation in a state of catastrophic decay, emerged among the attempts at nationalist fervour. As Margaret Sullivan notes in this panel of reaction from Guardian US columnists:
Donald Trump spoke of love, of God and of a new golden age for the United States of America. But just beneath that gilded surface, his inaugural speech sent a different message entirely.
That message: America has been invaded by “millions of criminal aliens” who would be sent home, while a state of emergency would be declared to allow the deployment of the military at the southern border with Mexico. The government would recognise “only two genders, male and female”. Support for electric cars would be reversed, and a “national energy emergency” declared to allow the suspension of environmental regulations and more drilling for oil and natural gas.
Read more from Archie Bland here: Tuesday briefing – What inauguration day told us about Trump’s plan for power
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has reacted to Donald Trump’s words over the future of the Panama Canal.
State-owned Russian news agency reports, in response to a question, he said:
We expect that during the expected discussions between the leadership of Panama and US president Donald Trump on issues of control over the Panama Canal, which certainly falls within the sphere of their bilateral relations, the parties will respect the current international legal regime of this key waterway.
The canal was built by the US in the early 1900s after an earlier failed attempt by France, and a treaty signed by the late president Jimmy Carter in 1977 transferred the canal to Panama in 1999 and allowed any nation to use it.
The US launched a military invasion of Panama in 1989 that left as many as 1,000 people dead as it overthrew president Manuel Noriega.
Donald Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago will begin to leave prison on Tuesday, after the newly installed president issued a sweeping pardon that signalled he intends to make aggressive use of his executive power, Reuters reports.
The Republican president’s pardon of 1,500 defendants on Monday drew outrage from lawmakers who were endangered in the 6 January, 2021, attack, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Congress from certifying his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia who had his 18-year prison sentence commuted, was released early on Tuesday after midnight in Cumberland, Maryland.
FILE – Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, on June 25, 2017. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP
Rhodes did not enter the US Capitol on 6 January, but he was found guilty for plotting to use force against Congress to prevent the election certification.
He was also accused of helping to stockpile firearms at a hotel in nearby Virginia that could be ferried across the river to Washington.
Trump’s immigration crackdown
Among the barrage of Trump’s executive orders was one that aimed at making good on his central campaign promise to crack down on immigration and unauthorised crossings at the US-Mexico border.
In his first appearance from the White House’s Oval Office after being inaugurated as the 47th president, Trump signed an order declaring a “national emergency” paving the way to send US troops to the southern border.
Repairs to the border wall are marked in white paint, with leftover materials scattered nearby, just a few miles west of the Lukeville, Arizona, to Sonoyta, Mexico, port of entry on the US-Mexico border, on January 9, 2025. Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
“Because of the gravity and emergency of this present danger and imminent threat, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to take all appropriate action to assist the Department of Homeland Security in obtaining full operational control of the southern border,” the executive order said.
World leaders react to Trump’s consequential first day
International leaders have responded with a mixture of wariness, anger and enthusiasm to Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, with Panama pushing back on his pledge to retake the Panama Canal and Mexico vowing to defend its people ahead of a crackdown on migrants.
After Trump declared that the Panama Canal was a “foolish gift” to Panama that “should never have been made”.
Read more from the Guardian’s Helen Livingstone on how global leaders have greeted the first day of Trump 2.0.
A handout photo made available by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India shows US President Donald J. Trump (C) and US First Lady Melania Trump (R) speaking to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) during their visit at Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India, 24 February 2020. Photograph: Ministry Of External Affairs/EPA
Among the most interesting comments was from Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who said in a post on X: “Now it’s our turn to shine! It’s our turn to occupy Brussels!”
US withdrawal from Paris Agreement puts world’s vulnerable at greater risk, says Mercy Corps
Donald Trump on Monday moved to withdraw the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of planet-heating pollution, from the Paris climate agreement for a second time, and put the United Nations on notice.
On his first day back as president, Trump signed an executive order on stage in front of supporters at an arena in Washington DC which he said was aimed at quitting what he called the “unfair one-sided Paris climate accord rip off”.
“Today’s announcement by the U.S. government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is devastating for the future of the planet and those facing the most significant disruption to their lives and livelihoods due to climate change,” Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps said in a statement.
Margarita Salazar, 82, wipes the sweat off with a tissue inside her home amid hot weather in Veracruz, Mexico, June 16, 2024. Photograph: Félix Márquez/AP
“The decision comes just after 2024 was named the hottest year on record and is a huge step backward at a time when the world urgently needs greater ambition and clear leadership to address the climate crisis, not retreat, said McKenna.
“Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it is a daily reality with devastating impacts for hundreds of millions of people who have contributed the least to climate change — from severe droughts in the Horn of Africa to deadly floods in Pakistan.”
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his team was in the process of removing more than a thousand appointees from the administration of former president Joe Biden, as the Republican announced four removals on social media, including of celebrity chef Jose Andres and former top general Mark Milley, Reuters reports.
FILE – Retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appears before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Washington. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Trump said he was dismissing Milley, who was given a pre-emptive pardon by Biden on Monday, from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. Andres was removed from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
New Zealanders are not typically ones for splitting hairs, but when it comes to who split the atom, you had better have your facts straight – particularly if you have just been sworn in as the 47th US president.
During his inaugural address on Monday, Donald Trump reeled off a list of US achievements, including a claim that its experts split the atom.
However, as the Guardian’s Eva Corlett writes, that honour belongs to revered physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealander who managed the historic feat in 1917 at Victoria University of Manchester in England. The element rutherfordium was named after him in 1997.
Read about New Zealand’s diligent factchecking here.
Trump’s January 6 pardons
President Donald Trump on Monday issued “full, complete and unconditional” presidential pardons for about 1,500 people who were involved in the January 6 attack on Congress, including some convicted of violent acts, making good on his promise to act in such cases on day one of his second term.
“This is a big one. We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” Trump said while signing the pardons in the Oval Office on Monday night after he referred to those convicted as “hostages”.
A person holds a placard as people gather outside the DC Central Detention Facility, commonly known as the DC Jail, in anticipation of a potential pardon by U.S. President Donald Trump for individuals convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. Trump, on 20 January, issued pardons for more than 1,000 people convicted for their roles in the January 6 Capitol riot. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA
Trump also directed the justice department to dismiss all pending indictments against people related to January 6.
The Liberty Ball – in pictures
President Trump and first lady, Melania.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump dance at the Liberty Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump dance at the Liberty Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Guests enjoy the party.
Guests enjoy the Liberty Ball, during the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Vice president, JD Vance and his wife Usha.
US Vice-President JD Vance (Center R) speaks to supporters with Second Lady Usha Vance (Center L) by his side at the Liberty Ball, one of the events being held following US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. Photograph: Maasni Srivastava/EPA
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump listen as President Donald Trump speaks at the Liberty Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Trump and ‘The Golden Era’.
Guests mingle as the Liberty Ball gets underway before President Donald Trump arrives, during the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Newly inaugurated president Donald Trump wasted no time signing off on a number of consequential foreign policy moves, from withdrawing from the World Heath Organization to reversing sanctions on violent Israeli settlers.
The Guardian’s David Smith has this handy recap of what you ned to know in terms of Trump’s foreign policy moves so far.
US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump’s inauguration and first day in office.
Immediately after his swearing-in ceremony on Monday the new US president set into motion a slew of executive orders seeking to make good on his campaign promises and undo the legacy of his predecessor Joe Biden, including the pardoning of January 6 defendants and a crackdown on immigration to the US.
Trump signed multiple executive orders in front of a raucous crowd of his supporters at the Capital One Arena in DC. “Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don’t think so,” he asked the crowd gleefully at one point. He then signed more during a press conference in the Oval Office.
The blossoming relationship between Trump and Elon Musk was also on full display at the inauguration; the billionaire sat with other tech titans including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos next to Trump family members and ahead of cabinet nominees.
Trump said that walking back into the already-remodelled Oval Office after his inauguration was “one of the better feelings I’ve ever had.”
Before leaving the White House for an evening of inaugural balls, Trump spent nearly an hour parrying questions by reporters. He promised that tariffs on Canada and Mexico were coming, suggested that he might visit China and praised the decorators for the new look of his Oval Office. Here is a rundown of how he was greeted by international leaders.
Here’s a rundown of his executive orders:
- Trump pardoned about 1,500 January 6 defendants facing prosecution for their role in the 2021 storming of the US capitol. Among those pardoned is Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison on seditious conspiracy charges. Trump also commuted the sentence of Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia, who had been sentenced to 18 years in prison on sedition charges.
- He also signed an executive order seeking to revoke birthright citizenship – automatic citizenship for people born in the US – for the children of undocumented immigrants. Birthright citizenship is protected by the 14th amendment and the order will almost certainly be challenged in court.
- One order declared a “national emergency” at the southern border, paving the way to send US troops to the area and another that designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
- He signed an executive order too, for a second time, withdraw the US from the Paris climate accords. He also declared a national energy emergency as part of a barrage of pro-fossil fuel actions and efforts to “unleash” already booming US energy production.
- Another order will remove the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen any more,” Trump said at the signing. The withdrawal of the US would dramatically cut funding from the global public health organization.
- He issued an executive order requiring federal agencies revoke the use of “gender” and “gender identity” and instead use a binary definition of “sex” in implementing policy – including in issuing passports, a move that LGBTQ+ rights groups have vowed to challenge in court.
- Another order reclassified thousands of federal employees as political hires, making it much easier for them to be fired. Key aides to Trump have called for mass government firings. Project 2025 made attacks on the deep or administrative state a core part of Trump’s second term.
- One order renamed the 617,800 sq mile Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s 20,000ft Denali. The Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America, and Denali, the highest mountain in North America, will revert to Mount McKinley, which it was called before Barack Obama changed the name in 2015. The order will have no bearing on the names being used internationally.
- Trump also signed an executive order temporarily delaying the enforcement of a federal ban on TikTok for at least 75 days. “I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” Trump said at the White House.
