Trump checks off major Day 1 campaign promises — leaving some on the to-do list
Trump followed through today on several actions he pledged to take on his first day in office, but he still has some major items left on the to-do list he made for himself during the presidential campaign.
Trump signed 46 executive orders and presidential actions on his first day back in the White House aimed at a variety of policy priorities he promised to address on Day One, such as border security, energy, production, transgender rights and pardoning the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.
A few big issues Trump promised to address were not among those actions, including tariffs and ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump says he has pardoned Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht
Trump said on Truth Social tonight that he had spoken by phone with the mother of Ross Ulbricht, a Bitcoin pioneer who was sentenced to life in prison in connection with creating a dark web black market, to let her know he had pardoned her son.
"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross," Trump wrote. "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me."
The post was deleted and reposted with Ulbricht's last name spelled correctly.
Trump said last year at the Libertarian National Convention that he would commute Ulbricht's life sentence for crimes related to creating Silk Road, a market where users could buy and sell drugs, fake identity documents and other illegal products.
Trump says he’s open to TikTok sale to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison
Trump said today that he’d consider the possibility of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison’s purchasing TikTok.
At a briefing to announce a joint venture for investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure, a reporter asked Trump whether he was open to “Elon buying TikTok.”
“I would be if he wanted to buy it, yes,” Trump responded. “I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”
24 million viewers tuned in to watch Trump's inauguration, Nielsen says
An estimated 24.6 million viewers watched Trump's inauguration yesterday, Nielsen announced.
That compares with the nearly 31 million who watched his first inauguration, in 2017, and the 33.8 million viewers for Biden's 2021 inauguration.
According to Nielsen, about 17.4 million viewers ages 55 and older tuned in, making them the biggest demographic to watch yesterday's events. About 4.6 million viewers were ages 35 to 54, and fewer than 1.5 million were ages 18 to 34.
Ratings peaked when Trump took the oath of office around noon, Nielsen said.
John Ratcliffe won't be confirmed as CIA director today
It appears Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., jumped the gun today when he said he expected the full Senate to reach a bipartisan consensus confirming John Ratcliffe as Trump’s CIA director.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., objected to moving that quickly, citing “serious concerns” about Ratcliffe’s “ability to distance himself from the political interests of President Trump.”
As a result, Thune made a procedural motion setting up Ratcliffe’s confirmation vote for Thursday.
Thune is expected to procedurally get the ball rolling on Pete Hegseth’s and Kristi Noem’s nominations, as well — but a lack of agreement about a time for the votes could force them into the weekend. Hegseth is Trump's pick for defense secretary, while Noem is his choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
“I hope nobody’s making any plans for the weekend or the evenings, because we’re going to get these nominees confirmed,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said, adding that Ratcliffe, Hegseth and Noem would be confirmed “the easy way or the hard way.”
“We tried to cooperate with Democrats. The cooperation has not been forthcoming. So I guess it’s going to be the hard way, starting on Thursday,” Cotton said.
FBI's Jan. 6 websites are taken down
All of the FBI websites about the investigation into the Jan. 6 riot, including details of the probe such as video and stills of arrested people, as well as the outstanding suspects featured in the “seeking information” section, have been taken down.
There is now no trace of the probe, which was the largest in the FBIs history, on its website or on FBI field office websites.
An FBI spokesperson said the websites “are no longer active.” Asked for comment, the FBI wouldn't say why they were taken down or who ordered the move.
As of several weeks ago when the Justice Department put out its monthly summary of Jan. 6 prosecution statistics, 80 unidentified people were still featured on the FBI’s Jan. 6 webpage.
Now when a visitor navigates to variations of the site, such as Violence at the United States Capitol, US Capitol Violence and Capitol Violence Images, the visitor is redirected to a content page for featured investigations and news releases but nothing about the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Links are still available to summaries of the prosecutions, Jan. 6 anniversary news releases and former FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony before Congress.
Bernie Sanders says Trump ignored 'virtually every important issue' facing working families in inauguration speech
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., criticized Trump for his inauguration speech yesterday, saying he ignored "virtually every important issue facing working families."
In a video posted to social media accounts today, Sanders said Trump failed to address solutions regarding health care, homelessness, prescription drug prices, wealth inequality and climate change.
Sanders urged people to stay focused on putting pressure on Congress to "do the right things," noting that Republicans have only a slim majority in the House.
"We cannot panic," he said. "No matter how many executive orders he signs, no matter how many absurd statements he makes, our goal remains the same. We have got to educate. We have got to organize."
‘Appalling’: Current and former prosecutors lament Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons
On the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to convey the enormous scope of the law enforcement effort to bring the rioters to justice, calling it “one of the largest, most complex and most resource-intensive investigations in our history.”
With the stroke of a pen, Trump turned that effort to dust yesterday with a blanket pardon of virtually every federal Jan. 6 defendant, save a few who still got their prison terms commuted.
“I don’t think that’s OK,” Jason Manning, who spent years as a line prosecutor working on Jan. 6 cases in Washington, said in an exclusive interview. “I find the pardons appalling.”
Trump says he read the letter Biden left for him in the Resolute desk
Trump said today that he read a letter Biden left him in the drawer of the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, calling it "a little bit of an inspirational-type letter."
"It was a very nice letter," said Trump, who had reached into the desk while he was answering reporters' questions last night to find the letter, which had "47" written on the front.
"I could show it because I think it was a nice," Trump said, adding that Biden urged him to "do a good job" and spoke about "how important the job is."
"I think it was a nice letter. I think I should let people see it, because it was a positive for him in writing it." Trump said. "I appreciated the letter."
Trump says he discussed recess appointments with congressional Republicans
Trump told reporters that recess appointments came up in his talks with congressional Republicans today, adding that he doesn't think they'll be needed.
He made the remark in response to a question at a news conference at the White House after he announced plans for AI investment in the U.S.
Recess appointments would allow Trump to appoint senior administration officials, bypassing Senate confirmation. During the race for Senate majority leader last month, Trump demanded that candidates allow him to make recess appointments. In 2020, Trump threatened to adjourn Congress to make recess appointments. He did not follow through.