JD Vance, Mike Johnson and others had said those guilty of violence would be excluded before president changed tack

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Donald Trump’s allies have been forced to perform political summersaults over his pardons for more than 1,500 rioters convicted of attacking the US Capitol after saying beforehand that no clemency would be shown to those guilty of violence or attacking police officers.

The inauguration day pardons also threatened to trigger a revolt among Republican senators, several of whom bluntly condemned them without extending the criticism to Trump himself.

A National Security Council spokesperson has denied that NSC staffers are being vetted for political affiliations

Presidential tradition to leave letters for successors began with Ronald Reagan in 1989

The federal judge’s order came less than a week before the 52nd anniversary of Roe

Groups worked furiously before inauguration to settle refugees, before order to halt all arrivals on Wednesday

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Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday that he was suspending the nation’s refugee resettlement program from 27 January – and then on Wednesday that even those who were approved for travel to the US before then have now had their plans canceled – has left US advocacy groups shocked, but hardly surprised.

Many organizations had been working around the clock ever since the election to try to resettle thousands of refugees as quickly as possible before the new administration.

Trump’s choice shows how his friends and their business interests benefit from policy positions in his administration

“What deeply interests me is the interests of America.”

Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of the Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and Donald Trump’s nominee to become the next secretary of commerce, was speaking to an audience of cryptocurrency enthusiasts last April.

President decrees end of DEI offices, roles and initiatives within 60 days and repeals civil rights-era equity policies

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All US federal employees working in diversity offices must be put on paid leave by Wednesday evening, the Trump administration has ordered, after instructing government agencies to shut down the programs.

“Send a notification to all employees of DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs,” said a US office of personnel management memo.

Trump has directed federal agencies to only define gender as either, male and female, and reject a person’s preferred gender identity or pronouns

Vivian Wilson, who often criticizes her estranged father, has responded to Elon Musk’s controversial gesture at Trump’s inauguration rally

New president’s unmet promises include a commitment to end the war in Ukraine in ‘24 hours’

US president tells his Russian counterpart to ‘settle now and stop this ridiculous war’ or face repercussions

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Donald Trump has threatened Russia with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not struck soon, as the new US president tries to increase pressure on Moscow to start negotiations with Kyiv.

Writing in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said Russia’s economy was failing and urged Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war”.

Budde, 65, asked president to ‘have mercy’ on immigrants and LGBTQ+ people in prayer service on Tuesday

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The Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde made headlines this week after she used her sermon on Tuesday at the National Cathedral prayer service for the inauguration to implore Donald Trump to “have mercy upon” immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Budde, 65, is the first woman to serve as the spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. She has been leading the diocese since her election to the role in 2011. Before that, she served as the rector of St John’s Episcopal church in Minneapolis for 18 years.

‘At least [in] the cases we looked at, these were people that actually love our country,’ Trump says of January 6 rioters

‘It sounds like you let down the blue! It sounds like you’re betraying the blue,’ Jim Acosta exclaimed on Wednesday.

The exact number of troops is not immediately clear

The City Attorney said they would be switching up ‘relaxed criminal laws’ to Trump’s stricter federal immigration laws

MAGA faithful have overwhelmed Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s church’s Facebook page by leaving over 100 negative reviews in the last 24 hours

Ramaswamy reportedly believed DOGE would use current laws and court precedent to fulfill DOGE’s goals while Musk focused on the technology aspect

Resettlement groups blindsided by immediate and indefinite suspension of refugee program

Trump is threatening unspecified sanctions on Moscow if Russian president Vladimir Putin doesn’t come to the negotiating table ‘soon’

Justice department directive comes amid slate of executive orders targeting US immigrants and asylum seekers

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• Trump’s immigration orders designed to sow chaos – ‘he wants you to feel afraid’

The US justice department is ordering federal prosecutors to target state and local officials who resist the administration’s planned mass deportation campaign, marking a dramatic escalation in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown just days after taking office.

The acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, directed prosecutors nationwide, in a document obtained by the Washington Post and the Associated Press, to investigate and potentially bring criminal charges against officials in “sanctuary” jurisdictions for “harboring” undocumented immigrants or withholding immigration information from federal authorities.

At this time, the child tax credit hands families a $2,000 discount on their tax bill for every child under the age of 17 that they care for

Faith leaders, school districts and ‘sanctuary’ city leaders vow to protect immigrants and targeted families

‘We need to find and put them behind bars for what they did. They need to pay for what they did,’ Enrique Tarrio exclaimed on Tuesday night, referencing those who investigated the January 6 Capitol attack.