DONALD TRUMP

Huffington Post - Current and former police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol from President Donald Trump’s mob on Jan. 6, 2021, were outraged Monday by Trump’s mass pardon of the rioters.

“Today is another dark day in American history and a continuation of the stain that January 6th left on our nation,” former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn said in a statement. “I am infuriated, but not surprised in the slightest. We can’t pretend to be shocked because Trump has fulfilled his longstanding promise to pardon the criminals he incited to attack me and my fellow officers.”

The Justice Department charged more than 1,500 people with crimes for attacking the Capitol that day, including hundreds for interfering with or assaulting law enforcement. Dozens of officers suffered injuries that day; five officers died afterward, one from a stroke and four by suicide.

On Monday, in one of his first acts as president, Trump offered clemency to all involved, commuting the sentences of 14 offenders who orchestrated the storming of the Capitol and offering “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” according to a release from the White House.

Daily Beast -   Donald Trump’s revenge arc has begun: John Bolton, the president’s former national security adviser from his first term, had his security clearance revoked as one of Trump’s first moves in the White House. Bolton, who wrote the memoir The Room Where It Happened, sharply criticized the president in his book, causing outrage from Trump at the time. “The memoir’s reckless treatment of sensitive information undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff,” said an executive order that Trump issued revoking the order. “Publication also created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.” Trump has offered his fair share of insults at Bolton, tweeting in 2020: “John Bolton was one of the dumbest people in government that I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ to work with. A sullen, dull and quiet guy, he added nothing to National Security except, ‘Gee, let’s go to war.’ Also, illegally released much Classified Information. A real dope!“ Trump also reportedly passed on offering him a Cabinet position at one point due to his mustache. “Bolton’s mustache is a problem. Trump doesn’t think he looks the part,” Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, reportedly said at the time. “You know Bolton is an acquired taste.”

17 Ways Trump’s Day 1 Orders Change U.S. Policy On Energy And The Environment

Reason - The [birthright citizensip] order doesn't just deny birthright citizenship to children of migrants who entered the US illegally. It also denies it to children of those who entered the US on perfectly legal temporary work and tourism visas. As Reason immigration writer Fiona Harrigan explains, this will affect children of many thousands of work visa holders, including H-1B visa holders much-loved by Elon Musk, among others.  

The Guardian -A swath of Democratic-led states and civil rights groups have filed the first lawsuits challenging executive orders Donald Trump signed after taking office, including one that seeks to roll back birthright citizenship in the US.A coalition of 22 Democratic-led states along with the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston on Tuesday arguing the Republican president’s effort to end birthright citizenship is a flagrant violation of the US constitution.

 NY Times - At a campaign event shortly before the November election, President Trump gave an answer that offers the best explanation for the pardons he announced on Monday. Asked at a Univision town hall about the riot by his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he said, “There were no guns down there. We didn’t have guns.” For starters, the statement was false; according to the Justice Department, at least 180 people have been “charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon,” including guns, knives, batons, baseball bats and chemical sprays. But it’s the pronoun — “we” — that gives Mr. Trump’s game away. By pardoning the rioters, he was, in every real sense, pardoning himself. 

Bloomberg - Trump, alongside the chief executives of Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle, announced a new investment push for artificial intelligence. Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Oracle’s Larry Ellison joined Trump on Tuesday afternoon to unveil an initial $100 billion investment into AI infrastructure—which could scale up to $500 billion over the next four years. A day earlier, Trump rescinded former President Joe Biden’s sweeping executive order on AI—immediately halting the implementation of key safety and transparency requirements for AI developers. 

Daily Beast -   Prominent GOP senators on Tuesday condemned President Trump’s sweeping clemency for violent Jan. 6 convicts who destroyed the Capitol and attacked police officers.  “I do not support pardons given to people who engaged in violence on January 6, including assaulting police officers, or breaking windows to get into the Capitol,” Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement.

The small faction of dissenters included former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who pointed to Vice President JD Vance’s remarks earlier this month that violent criminals “obviously” should not be pardoned. “Well, I think I agree with the vice president,” McConnell told Semafor. Collins that “some Americans were caught up in the crowd on January 6 and may well deserve the clemency President Trump has given.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to convict Trump of impeachment in 2021, seconded Collins' sentiment. He told CNN he’s a “back-the-blue guy” and feels “people who assault police officers—if they do the crime, they should do the time.”

“There is a great difference between violent crimes and non-violent crimes,” Collins added. “Violence must never be tolerated in America.”