Donald Trump says attacks on police officers in January 6 riots were ‘minor incidents’
Donald Trump has said that attacks on police officers during the January 6 riots were “minor incidents”.
In his first sit-down interview since being inaugurated on Monday, recorded in the Oval Office, Mr Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity most of those who were jailed over the US Capitol riots were “absolutely innocent”.
As part of a flurry of executive orders on his first day back in office, the president pardoned around 1,500 people who were convicted over the unrest – including more than 200 who were jailed for felony assault on police officers.
Speaking to Hannity on Fox, Mr Trump said of those convicted: “Nobody’s ever been treated so badly. They were treated like the worst criminals in history.”
He went on to claim those at the US Capitol were simply there “protesting the vote” before again falsely claiming the 2020 election was “rigged”.
When asked by Mr Hannity about the pardons for those jailed for assault, the president said: “They were very minor incidents, and it was time.”
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‘Most of Capitol rioters were innocent’
The president was equally dismissive of the alleged threat to US security posed by TikTok.
He ordered the reactivation of the video-sharing site shortly after it had been closed down in the US by a law passed under the Biden administration, because of concerns over links between the owners and the Chinese government and the perceived threat to personal data.
He said “we have so many things made in China” and questioned why it would be important for China to be spying on “young kids watching crazy videos”.
Elsewhere, Mr Trump said the US government should not give California aid to help rebuild after wildfires in Los Angeles until it uses water from the northern part of the state.
The president has accused Governor Gavin Newsom of refusing to redirect water from northern California as it protects the Delta smelt – an endangered species of fish. Mr Newsom has denied the claim
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” he said.
Mr Hannity also asked the president about surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer, where Mr Trump was shot in the ear by a gunman after turning his head at the moment the shot rang out.
Mr Trump said it was “split second perfect timing” to look at the immigration board he had behind him that day, and added: “I don’t think you can just call it luck.”
When asked if surviving the attempt had changed him, the president said: “I haven’t changed. But it’s increased my faith in God.”
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After previously promising to do so in his first term in office, Mr Trump also suggested his administration was looking into releasing all information on the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
He told Mr Hannity that Mike Pompeo – his first secretary of state – raised national security concerns over the release of documents, but said he is still looking at declassifying them.
“I’m going to release them immediately upon getting – we’re going to see the information – we’re looking at it right now,” he said.
Mr Trump inevitably spent some time railing against the previous administration, but again said Joe Biden had left a nice letter for him in the drawer of the desk in the Oval Office, the contents of which he has now allowed to be published.
Biden’s letter to Trump in full
Dear President Trump,
As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years.
The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.
May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.
– Joe Biden
A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.
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