Outgoing US President Joe Biden used his final hours in the White House to issue several pre-emptive pardons – including to members of his own family.
In his final act in office, Mr Biden issued the blanket pardons to five members of his family due to what he called “unrelenting attacks” from Trump and his allies.
“Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” he said in a statement issuing the pardons, for his brother James and his wife, Sara, his sister Valerie and her husband, John Owens, and his brother Francis.
He added: “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence.”
Separately, last month, Mr Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, after he was convicted of gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion.
Earlier, in his final hours in office,Mr Biden also issued several pre-emptive pardons in a bid to protect public servants from the potential of “revenge” by the president-elect.
He said those being issued pardons had been “subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties” and in some cases threatened with criminal prosecutions.
Those issued a pardon include Dr Anthony Fauci, who helped coordinate the US response to COVID but raised the ire of Mr Trump when he refused to back his unfounded claims about the virus.
Retired general Mark Milley, who previously called the president-elect a fascist and detailed his conduct around the 2021 insurrection, also received a pardon.
“I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Mr Biden said on Monday.
“Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”
Mr Trump reacted to the pardons in a text message to Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News, calling the move “disgraceful” and claimed, without any evidence, that many of the pardoned individuals were “guilty of major crimes”.
Dr Fauci told US broadcaster ABC that he “truly appreciates” the pardon from Mr Biden.
“I have committed no crime… and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” he said.
Gen Milley added: “I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights.
“I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.”
‘Not breaking the law, but upholding it’
Members and staff of the House Select Committee, which investigated the January 6 riots and police officers who testified before that committee, have also been pardoned.
Those on the committee included Senator Adam Schiff, former Reps Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Elaine Luria, Stephanie Murphy, Pete Aguilar, Zoe Lofgren, Jamie Raskin and Bennie Thompson.
Heads of the committee, Ms Cheney and Mr Thompson, said the pardons from Mr Biden are “not for breaking the law but for upholding it”.
The police officers who testified before the committee included Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges, NBC reported.
The committee’s final report found that Mr Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.
Donald Trump has said he will declare an emergency at the US-Mexico border as one of a host of executive orders the incoming president will sign on Monday and in the coming days.
Incoming White House officials have said the first wave of executive orders will cover a mix of campaign trail promises, reversals of outgoing President Joe Biden’s policies and restructuring of the federal government workforce.
One of the most high-profile orders will be Mr Trump declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border as part of a wider crackdown on immigration and other cross-border crimes.
Sky News’ US partner NBC News has reported Mr Trump is expected to sign more than 50 executive orders on Monday, and possibly more than 100, citing a person in his transition operation.
Border and immigration
On the border, Mr Trump said he would declare a national emergency in his inaugural speech.
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During the inauguration ceremony, Mr Trump said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places they came.
“I will end the practice of catch and release and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.
“Under the orders I sign today we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations.”
However, the border emergency is not the only one Mr Trump intends to declare.
During his speech, the president said he would also declare “a national energy emergency”, adding: “We will drill baby drill.”
He continued: “We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”
NBC News reported this is aimed at expanding the administration’s ability to improve domestic energy production.
Alongside that, he reportedly will: allow more drilling both offshore and on federal lands, end a freeze on liquid natural gas exports and cut off climate-related funding that was approved under the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden.
In another executive order, Mr Trump reportedly will implement Schedule F.
This eliminates job protections for potentially thousands of federal workforce positions, which could make it easier to fire them.
Gender and diversity
Matching talking points from the campaign trail, Mr Trump said it would be government policy, through an executive order, that there would only be two genders recognised by the US government – male and female.
Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr Day he also promised to slash diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, saying: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.
“We will forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the US government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
Mr Trump also intends to reverse an order by President Biden that allows transgender people to serve openly in the military in their self-identified gender.
The order also provided greater access to medical care and even support for gender transition.
The Pentagon and military
Alongside that, NBC News said that Mr Trump would reverse two other decisions by the Democrat who beat him in the 2020 election.
One would change the location of the US Space Command headquarters, moving it from Colorado to Alabama.
The other would reverse a 2022 decision that provided paid leave and reimbursed transportation costs for troops and dependents who travelled out of state for abortion and other reproductive care.
TikTok and Hunter Biden
Mr Trump has said he would sign an extension for TikTok to find a buyer, to comply with the law that went into effect on Sunday.
Mr Trump would also reportedly suspend security clearance for 51 national security officials who signed a letter saying that Hunter Biden’s emails and laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian operation.
“Hats off! No bags! No drinks, no food, no water, no nothing. Everything out of your pockets. Come on – let’s go, let’s go let’s go!”
Security’s tough at the front of the line. There is a real sense of urgency.
It is bitterly cold outside Washington’s Capital One Arena and people have been queuing since 3.30am. Everyone’s keen to get in.
The queue snakes all the way around the back of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library and down the block.
Inauguration Day happens to coincide with MLK Day (Martin Luther King Jr Day) this year. There was meant to be an outside match to commemorate that too, but it’s been cancelled because of the cold.
It’s now 7am and the queue starts moving. There’s a huge cheer at the front.
Despite the freezing temperatures and wind chill, people are excited. They came here for Trump, and it would have been colder on the National Mall in any case. They’re psyched.
“I spent so much money on my bills – they’re gonna go down, everything’s gonna go down and my pay rate is gonna go up,” says Dan French, who’s dressed as Uncle Sam.
Tabitha agrees. “New York, where I’m from, is a hot mess,” she says. “Everything is expensive, housing, food. Trump is going to come in and clean this up.”
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Donald Trump is now the 47th president of the United States, as well as the 45th president, a businessman – and a man who knows how to put on a show.
A litany of former presidents, Trump family members, tech royalty and world politicians attended the historic event.
As the 78-year-old entered the Rotunda, where the inauguration ceremony was moved to due to freezing temperatures outside, he was met with cheers and applause.
He reached for his wife Melania, who he awkwardly tried to kiss, and greeted his predecessor, Joe Biden, who was standing opposite the Trump family with now-former vice president Kamala Harris beside him.
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Mr Trump and Melania share awkward kiss
Former US presidents in attendance included Bill Clinton with his wife, former presidential candidate and Trump rival Hilary Clinton.
Barack Obama was also there but without his wife Michelle, while George Bush attended with his wife Laura.
The newly-elected president gave his oath with his hands on two bibles, one given to him by his mother and the other being the Lincoln Bible, first used in 1861 to swear in the 16th US president.
The Republican, whose first term in power lasted between 2016 and 2020, then gave a speech in which he announced some sweeping measures on migration, climate change and gender rights.
On the eve of his inauguration, Mr Trump held a final rally in Washington DC, where he hinted at a blizzard of executive orders he would sign once he was back in the Oval Office.
He was joined on stage by Elon Musk, his new government efficiency tsar, and then had a boogie with none other than the Village People, as they sang their hit YMCA.
After a candlelit dinner at the National Building Museum, he headed back to Blair House, known as The President’s Guest House, to prepare for one of the biggest days in the US political calendar.
On Monday morning, the inauguration began. It started at St John’s Church, known as the “Church of the Presidents”.
It is one of the most private events of an inauguration, with no TV cameras allowed inside the small, yellow church.
After the intimate prayer service, incoming vice president JD Vance went to meet outgoing VP Kamala Harris with their respective partners at the White House.
The Trumps headed to tea with the Bidens before the four of them were driven together to the swearing-in ceremony.
When Joe Biden was sworn in four years ago, then president Trump did not afford him the same tradition and instead skipped the whole inauguration.
While the 46th and 47th presidents took tea, the Rotunda filled with guests and musicians.
On the streets of Washington, thousands gathered to watch it live on screens.