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.”

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

More than 30,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes north of Los Angeles after a new wildfire broke out in California.

The latest blaze – dubbed the Hughes Fire – started late on Wednesday morning near Lake Castaic, around 40 miles from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that devastated parts of LA earlier this month.

Within hours, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said the blaze had burned across 9,400 acres. They added the fire is at zero percent containment.

Los Angeles County officials said in a news conference that more than 31,000 people – greater than the entire population of Castaic – were told to leave over warnings of “immediate threat to life”.

Another 25,000 people are in zones facing evacuation warnings.

Planes were seen making runs over the mountains to drop water and fire suppressants.

‘Driving into hell’

Helicopters have also reportedly scooped water out of the lake to drop on the fire to stop it from approaching Interstate 5, where a 30-mile stretch of the Mexico-to-Canada highway had already been closed.

Speaking to NBC4, a local affiliate of Sky’s US partner network NBC News, J.C. Chancellor said scenes from the nearby 5 Freeway “looked like you were driving into hell”.

“There was red fire coming up from below,” she told the broadcaster. “It was pretty terrifying… It looks like a smoke bomb went off.”

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Smoke from the fire caused “worsening air quality” forcing Ventura College to close, while Los Angeles Zoo shut its doors over “Red Flag” weather conditions.

It comes as the National Weather Service (NWS) branch in Los Angeles said areas around the city – including Oxnard and Burbank – are under critical fire conditions until 8pm on Thursday (4am on Friday in the UK).

High winds to continue

Low humidity and high winds have been driving the spread of the fires across southern California, which has not seen significant rainfall for nine months.

The continuing gusts have left officials concerned that the Palisades and Eaton fires could break their containment lines. At least 27 people have died since the two blazes began on 7 January.

According to Cal Fire, the Palisades fire, which started as a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades, has destroyed thousands of homes and burned 23,713 acres, and is still only 68% contained.

The Eaton fire broke out just hours later, and spread to 14,021 acres and destroyed more than 10,000 homes and businesses. It’s currently at 91% containment.

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Meanwhile, firefighters are also tackling two blazes – the Lilac and Center fires – in San Diego, near the Mexico border.

While smaller than the Los Angeles fires, evacuation orders were issued on Tuesday for the Lilac blaze, which broke out near Old Highway 395.

It also comes as the NWS forecasts heavy rain for Los Angeles by the weekend, which officials warned could cause toxic ash runoffs and mudslides.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a full-force mobilisation of fire crews in “burn scar” areas where the Los Angeles wildfires broke out.

In 2018, flash flooding in the Santa Ynez Mountains after a wildfire led to a mudslide that killed 23 people in Montecito.

It’s the craze that spread from NFL fields to the UFC octagon and, in football, from the US national team to Barnsley.

An endearing imitation of Donald Trump‘s interpretation of a YMCA dance adopted from the rally stages.

Christian Pulisic – American soccer’s poster boy – called it “fun” rather than political, after adopting the alternate fist-pumping move to celebrate scoring following the presidential election in November.

But its popularity signals that associating with the returning president is now far from taboo in the sports world, after the snubs of the first term.

That will be welcome news for President Trump as sport is far from a sideshow this time around and instead, central to his agenda and projection on the world stage.

There was a constant campaign pledge to ban transgender athletes from single-gender sport – reasserted in the splendour of an inauguration ball on Monday night.

The run-up to the election also saw Trump use mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a route to attracting male voters. And World Wrestling Entertainment’s former boss even has the education brief in his cabinet.

Beyond the political, sport has a personal appeal to Trump too.

Golf has never just been a respite from politics or business, but a lucrative venture if he keeps Saudi Arabia sweet – with the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund bringing its breakaway series to his courses.

Then there’s the prestige of being in office to host the men’s World Cup and Summer Olympics.

For once, Trump could see the benefit of losing in 2020 – enabling him to be a rare leader of a nation during the two biggest sporting shows on the planet – while still making false claims at the Capitol this week about that “rigged” election.

When the US hosted the 1994 World Cup, Alexi Lalas was the icon of the national team with his distinctive unruly red hair and beard.

Early to join the MAGA movement, he has seen a shift from those who once approached him in “hushed tones” while travelling the country.

“I think that many people got to a point where they were sick and tired of hiding what they felt was common sense,” Lalas told Sky News.

“It made me sad that they felt the pressure and that they were ultimately scared to express that.”

There can be a backlash from those not expecting such a strident right-leaning approach from the player they might remember as a “90s grunge hippie type”.

“I have lost friends because of it,” said the Fox Sports commentator who was in Washington for the presidential parties. “There are people that view me differently than they did before because now they know my political affiliation.

“I’m not going to apologise for it. I believe that I’m a good person, that I want good things.”

The World Cup will be unprecedented. Not just being the largest with 48 teams, but bringing an influx of millions of sports fans, unlike anything seen in the country before.

“[Trump] recognises the power and the draw of sports and being associated with that,” Lalas said.

How will pledges to FIFA to allow ticket-holding fans entry collide with a clampdown on immigration? An early test will be when the new men’s Club World Cup is used as a test event this summer.

Inside Trump’s alliance with FIFA boss Infantino

It’s a platform not just for the players, but for the Trump-Gianni Infantino alliance to dominate.

Few have ingratiated themselves with Trump like the FIFA leader. Public displays of loyalty through the scandals of the first term were rewarded with a prime spot at the inauguration, just behind the president and his predecessors on Monday.

The boss of a global football governing body that promotes non-discrimination listened to – but not always obviously applauding – an address that vowed to eliminate diversity and inclusion programmes, and only recognise male and female genders.

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This is a country with plans to bid again for the Women’s World Cup, which for the first time in 2023 featured a transgender and non-binary player – Canada’s Quinn.

Shutting trans women out of women’s sport was on Trump’s mind before, and after, taking the oath of office. His go-to topic for rally speeches is now high on the Oval Office agenda.

The vow to protect the fairness of women’s sport is perhaps persuading female athletes with rival loyalties to at least consider backing the Republican.

“This was a very decisive issue for many women like me, who consider themselves largely Democrat and have been their entire lives,” cyclist Evie Edwards, part of the ICONS advocacy group, told Sky News.

“It’s been very, very difficult over the last five years to get voices heard.

“The fact that they’re just now being heard, the fact that President Trump announced this on day one in office, is extremely encouraging for the majority of us.

“Regardless, if your party affiliation is Republican or Democrat, it’s an extremely important, necessary step.”

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How do trans athletes feel about Trump?

To the marginalised trans athlete community, facing discrimination in wider society, there is a feeling of being targeted for political gain and excluded from the sports they love.

Trans male wrestler Mack Beggs is troubled by the constant misgendering of Paris 2024 women’s boxing champion Imane Khelif by Trump, in campaign speeches based on disputed gender eligibility tests on the Algerian.

“Overall [Trump is] going to use anything that he can to exploit any little thing when it comes to those major events,” Beggs told Sky News. “I think that using Imane as a pawn and a tool in order to elevate that conversation and fan irrational fear of trans athletes being in sports is kind of a little pathetic.”

And it is about more than just having the chance to compete.

“The majority of my community is scared because it’s not just about the sports,” said Beggs, who still dreams of fighting one day in the Trump-loving UFC. “It’s about overall our rights being taken away as a whole.

“We start with sports and that’s going to go on to the medical bills as well.”

And Trump has rapidly shut down government accessibility initiatives – contradicting the societal change promoted by the Paralympics which come to LA in 2028.

But will anyone in sport stand up to Trump if inflammatory rhetoric and meddling risks overshadowing sports? Trump called Paris 2024 a “disgrace” over the opening ceremony depiction of the Last Supper, fuelling an Olympic culture war.

Sebastian Coe could be running the Olympics by the time of Los Angeles 2028 if he wins the IOC presidential election in March.

“I’m not entirely unused to dealing with politicians,” Lord Coe, a former Conservative MP, told Sky News. “I understand the language. I understand the pressures. It’s a landscape I’m comfortable in. But sport has to maintain its independence and its autonomy.”

In a Trump world that is not always possible – as the campaign trail and his first two days in office have made clear. And not every sports leader wants to maintain their independence, seduced by the entry into the orbit of real global power.