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.
Image: Dr Anthony Fauci. Pic: Reuters
“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.
Image: Retired US general Mark Milley. Pic: Reuters
“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.
Image: Liz Cheney with Mr Biden. Pic: Reuters
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‘s berating of Mr Zelenskyy has led to a show of support from European leaders as they try to formulate their own way forward.
The US president attacked the Ukrainian leader again on Monday, telling reporters he should be “more appreciative”.
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Image: The tens of billion in US aid has included Patriot air defence systems. Pic: Reuters
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump also said Mr Zelenskyyhad made “the worst statement that could have been made” after he commented that peace was still “very, very far away”.
“America will not put up with it for much longer!” he posted.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” the president added.
Mr Zelenskyy then posted on X, saying Ukraine was “working together with America and our European partners and very much hope on US support on the path to peace”.
“Peace is needed as soon as possible,” he said.
‘Music to the ears of Putin’
By David Blevins, US correspondent
President Trump’s decision to pause military aid to Ukraine marks a significant shift in US foreign policy, one previously considered unthinkable.
This blow to Ukraine’s defences in the face of Russian aggression will be music to the ears of President Putin. US military aid has kept Ukraine in this David and Goliath battle for three years.
It has funded what military analysts simplify as “the big stuff” of battle – artillery, anti-tank weapons, rockets and armoured vehicles. Trump’s decision to push pause disregards efforts by Keir Starmer and other European leaders to devise a peace plan.
Those already questioning Europe’s reliance on the US for defence will conclude they have been given the answer.
But the decision sets President Trump up for a potential confrontation with Republicans, who had approved the funding, in Congress.
White House sources say he wants President Zelenskyy to go on TV and apologise for the jaw-dropping showdown last Friday. But the Ukrainian president feels he has no apology to make for expressing his doubt about Russia’s commitment to peace.
Earlier, Trump side-stepped a question about a Kremlin diplomat claiming the US administration and Moscow were now aligned on foreign policy.
This weakening of Ukraine’s defence capability moves that question front and centre as he prepares to address Congress on Tuesday.
Despite the diplomatic crisis, President Trump has said a deal is still possible.
An agreement giving the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth metals was meant to have been signed by the two presidents on Friday.
It was billed as an important step in a future peace deal – and part payback for aid already received.
However, the dramatic falling out has thrown that into jeopardy.
Mr Zelenskyy wants the metals deal to include guarantees on halting Russia should it break the terms of any peace agreement.
However, vice president JD Vance suggested on Monday that the metals pact was the best way to secure a lasting end to the war.
“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Mr Vance said.
“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years,” he added.
European and world allies – who met the Ukrainian leader in London at the weekend – have discussed a “coalition of the willing” to deploy peacekeepers and deter further Russian aggression.
The prime minister said Britain was prepared to put “boots on the ground and planes in the air” under the plan – but it’s unclear who else might participate.
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Keir Starmer told MPs on Monday that Britain must “lead from the front” on supporting Ukraine and the “security of our continent, the security of our country”.
However, the prime minister believes any international deployment of troops must have a US “backstop” deterrent to be taken seriously by Russia.
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Donald Trump has confirmed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, taking effect at 5am UK time on Tuesday.
The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US stocks down sharply.
The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.
Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”
There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.
As of 12:01am Eastern Standard Time (5.01am GMT), Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.
And tariffs on Chinese imports will double, raising them from 10% to 20%.
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Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.
China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and “bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.
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2:45
What is America’s trade position?
Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America and sent financial markets reeling.
Markets the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.4% and 1.76% respectively.
The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.
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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.
This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.
Donald Trump has hit out at the Ukrainian president once again, just four days after an explosive on-camera spat between the pair.
The US president posted on Truth Social saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy made “the worst statement that could have been made” when he said the end of the war with Russia is “very, very far away”.
“America will not put up with it for much longer!” Mr Trump posted.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” the president added.
He also appeared to attack Mr Zelenskyy and Europe after yesterday’s Ukraine summit in London at which leaders, according to Mr Trump: “stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US.”
“What are they thinking?” Mr Trump asked.
A deal to end the war was still “very, very far away”, Mr Zelenskyy said earlier, adding he expects to keep receiving US support despite the two leaders’ public spat.
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“I think our relationship (with the US) will continue because it’s more than an occasional relationship,” the Ukrainian president added.
Mr Trump said in his Truth Social post: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
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