Trump demands apology from bishop for asking for mercy as latest executive orders target DEI: Live updates

Here’s Kelly Rissman with some lavish praise for the youngest Trump, who towered over everyone at Monday’s inauguration ceremony and continues to be a figure of fascination in certain quarters.

After being confirmed as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in March 2024, Donald Trump made a promise.

“My first acts as your next president will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned,” he wrote at the time on his Truth Social platform.

On his first day back in office on Monday, Trump stayed true to his word on the rioters and granted clemency to more than 1,500 supporters charged with crimes connected to the January 6 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

While an overwhelming majority of defendants were issued full pardons, five members of the far-right Proud Boys and nine members of the Oath Keepers militia had their sentences commuted.

Trump has also issued full pardons for two Proud Boys members.

Here’s James Liddell on the highest-profile Proud Boys and Oath Keeper members – and the most memorable insurgents – who received clemency from Trump, and a reminder of the crimes they committed.

More of the US government’s web pages are displaying useless “Error 404” messages, as in the image below, after its reproductive rights and Spanish language pages were taken offline yesterday.

The homepage, meanwhile, now runs a video montage of Trump in commander-in-chief mode, a dramatic collage of military aircraft, patriotic bald eagles and personalized Sharpie pens – all very on brand.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking Democrat Jack Reed has issued the following statement on the latest affidavit regarding Trump’s nominee for defense secretary:

“As I have said for months, the reports of Mr Hegseth’s history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation. I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this affidavit confirms that fact.

“My number one priority is the safety and security of our nation. This has and must always include serious oversight of the US military and its leaders.

“The sworn affidavit from this courageous woman, provided at enormous personal risk and with nothing to gain, documents a disturbing pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr Hegseth.

“This behavior would disqualify any servicemember from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.”

The now-former leader of the extremist gang who was just granted clemency by Trump, celebrated his release from prison on Tuesday by calling into conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s show and calling for retribution.

Speaking to Jones, a Proud Boys sympathizer who was a key figure in planning the January 6 rally, Tarrio heaped praise on Trump for freeing him and other Proud Boy members from jail.

He also expressed no regrets about the Capitol riots, even though he previously apologized for his role in the events.

“I’d like to thank again President Donald J Trump for helping us through these difficult times and releasing me, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. Right? And all the J6ers,” he declared.

“We went through hell, and I’m gonna tell you, it was worth it, because what we stood for and what those guys stood for was what we’ve been fighting for and what we saw yesterday on the inauguration stage.

“I can’t tell you it’s been easy, but I will tell you it’s been worth it.”

Here’s more from Justin Baragona.

Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded long-standing policy that prohibits federal immigration authorities from enforcement actions in places like schools, daycare centers, hospitals, churches and other so-called “sensitive areas” as the president lays the groundwork for his “mass deportation” agenda.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”

For more than a decade, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents had been restricted from arrests in “sensitive” sites without approval from more senior officials.

The latest directive under Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman rescinds previous guidance under Joe Biden’s administration, which further established “protected areas,” including places where “children gather, disaster or emergency relief sites, and social services establishments.”

The changes have drawn sharp rebukes and warnings from faith leaders, teachers unions, school districts and immigrant advocacy groups, with state and local leaders in so-called “sanctuary” policies pledging to defend their jurisdictions in court.

Here’s more from Alex Woodward.

Here’s the president throwing down the gauntlet to Vladimir Putin, warning him he will target Russia with tariffs, taxes and sanctions if it does not agree a deal to end the war in Ukraine:

In one of the first acts of his second administration, the new president pardoned nearly all of the 1,500 people charged over their roles in the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol four years ago.

Now, fresh details are emerging that reveal the spur-of-the-moment nature of the decision that led to the move.

“Trump just said: ‘F*** it: Release ’em all,’” an adviser familiar with the discussions told the Axios.

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that the aforementioned Speaker Johnson has been making it abundantly clear just now that this is the president’s call and, ideally, not something he wants to be associated with:

Here’s Kelly Rissman with the inside story behind a highly divisive act of clemency.

The president’s first social media activity of the morning finds him wishing the first lady a “Happy Anniversary!” by, er, reposting a load of old pictures and fan art from his supporters in pretty half-assed fashion.

He also threw up this AI lion meme because why not?

Also on MAGA social media, House Speaker Mike Johnson has posted this video of Vice President Vance, jaw agape, being shown the Oval Office for the first time by Trump.

The man was sworn in as president 46 hours ago and we’re already seeing headlines like the above… It is going to be a LONG four years.

Here’s the latest on bishop-gate from James Liddell.