Trump rolls out death penalty laws in slew of executive orders after being sworn in as US president: Live

Trump signed full pardons for roughly 1,500 people charged with crimes related to their involvement in the January 6 2021 Capitol riots yesterday.

He also issued six commutations.

“I hope they come out tonight,” he said as he flourished his customary Sharpie.

Some 1,583 individuals have been charged criminally in federal court as of January 6 2025, according to the Department of Justice.

Here’s Alex Woodward’s report on the overturning of Tarrio’s 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy.

In his inaugural address yesterday, Donald Trump boasted his second term in office marks the beginning of “a golden age” for the United States and declared that God had saved him from an assassin’s bullet “to make America great again”.

In a characteristically bombastic speech from the Capitol in Washington DC, the 47th President of the United States laid out a radical right-wing domestic and foreign agenda.

Surrounded by members of Congress, former presidents and Supreme Court justices, he pledged: “Every single day… I will very simply put America first.”

Here’s a full report on an often shocking speech from David Maddox.

Here’s a handy video reminder of yesterday’s pomp and ceremony from Washington DC in what was truly a whirlwind day.

Here’s Richard Hall to attempt to make sense of it all.

The last time this many red MAGA hats descended on the capital, American democracy faced a mortal threat, he observes.

Four years later, and many believe the same may be true again.

Before we take a closer look at the new president’s blitz of executive ordes, let’s recap the events of last night, beginning with the first couple’s dance to Elvis Presley’s “An American Trilogy” at the Commander-In-Chief Inaugural Ball.

Here’s Amber Raiken on the praise for Melania’s custom Herve Pierre dress and the night’s sartorial choices.

After being inaugrated as commander-in-chief at the US Capitol rotunda and delivering an address that both chastized Joe Biden’s outgoing administration and promised a new “golden age of America”, Trump set to work, as he had promised, on signing a stack of executive orders.

On immigration alone, the commander-in-chief moved to declare a national emergency at the southern border, end birthright citizenship, designate Mexico’s cartels terrorist organizations, reinstate his old “Remain in Mexico” policy and ended “catch and release” practices.

He also pardoned 1,500 “J6 hostages”, withdrew the US from the World Health Organization and Paris climate accord, affirmed that US government recognizes only two genders, renamed the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Mount Denali, overturned 78 Biden-era regulations, froze federal hiring and postponed the implementation of a law banning Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok for 75 days.

Here’s Alex Woodward, Andrew Feinberg, Kelly Rissman and Katie Hawkinson with an overview of everything Trump signed yesterday.

Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on the death penalty on Monday, hours after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, that directs the US attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful action” to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions.

Trump’s order compels the Justice Department to not only seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs.

Trump had been expected to restart federal executions, which have been on hold since a moratorium was imposed by former attorney general Merrick Garland in 2021.

Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden recently converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.

Trump directed his new attorney general – likely to be former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, assuming she is confirmed by the Senate – to pursue federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty “regardless of other factors” when the case involves the killing of a law enforcement officer or capital crimes “committed by an alien illegally present in this country.”

He’s also instructing the attorney general to seek to overrule Supreme Court precedents that “limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment.”

“The government’s most solemn responsibility is to protect its citizens from abhorrent acts, and my administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorize capital punishment against those who commit horrible acts of violence against American citizens,” Trump’s order said.

Trump’s administration carried out 13 federal executions during his first term, more than under any president in modern history, and the president has spoken frequently of expanding executions. In a speech announcing his 2024 campaign, Trump called for those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts.”

He later promised to execute drug and human smugglers and even praised China’s harsher treatment of drug peddlers.

Tesla CEO and “first buddy” Elon Musk was hit with a wave of immediate outrage online and on cable news after he made a salute that many felt was fascist during his speech at the Capitol One Arena on Monday to celebrate President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

While getting extremely excited about the prospect of landing a man on Mars and planting an American flag, the X (formelyTwitter) owner pounded his chest and shot his right arm in an angular motion toward the sky, saying he felt it in his “heart.” He also turned his back to the audience and repeated the gesture towards the American flag hanging over the stage.

“Standing ovation for Elon Musk. By far the biggest reception of the day,” CNN anchor Erin Burnett noted. “You saw him come out with that odd-looking salute.”

Justin Baragona has the story.

Welcome to the second Donald Trump era in Washington, although in practice, the first never really ended.

A majority of Republicans in the House Representatives voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Much of the party referred to him as “President Trump,” even after he left D.C.

Now back as president, Trump delivered a dark and heavily partisan inaugural address Monday. He used it to rehash plenty of his old scores, from arguing that he had been politically persecuted to promising that “the violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.”

Eric Garcia has the story.