Trump defends pardons for rioters and suggests Proud Boys could have place in politics
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on his first full day in office defended his decision to pardon people convicted of assaulting police officers during the 2021 attack on the Capitol and suggested there could be a place in U.S. politics for the Proud Boys extremist group, quickly reviving some of the controversies of his first term.
Trump on Tuesday defended his decision to use his first hours in office to pardon hundreds of people who participated in violence at the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021, including the former leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy charges but released from prison after Trump signed his order.
When pressed by a reporter about the Proud Boys and whether there was a place for them in politics, Trump said, “Well, we have to see. They’ve been given a pardon. I thought their sentences were ridiculous and excessive.”
Trump spoke to reporters at the White House as he highlighted an investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and declared, “We’re back.”
“I think we’re going to do things that people will be shocked at,” he said.
Trump did just that hours into his presidency, granting sweeping clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection sparked after he refused to accept his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The president on Tuesday said he thought their sentences were “ridiculous and excessive” and said, “These are people who actually love our country, so we thought a pardon would be appropriate.”
Trump opened his first full day back in office by demonstrating one of his favored expressions of power: firing people.
The new president posted on his Truth social media network early Tuesday that he would fire more than 1,000 presidential appointees “who are not aligned with our vision,” including some high-profile names.
Trump fired chef and humanitarian José Andrés from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, retired Gen. Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former State Department official Brian Hook from the board of the Wilson Center and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.
“YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump said in his post — his catchphrase from his reality TV show, “The Apprentice.”
Andrés and Bottoms disputed Trump’s assertion that they were fired, saying in posts on social media that they had already submitted their resignations.
Former President Joe Biden also removed many Trump appointees in his first days in office, including former press secretary Sean Spicer from the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Academy.
Three major business leaders — SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison — joined Trump on Tuesday afternoon to announce the creation of a new company called Stargate, which would invest up to $500 billion over the next four years in AI infrastructure, according to the White House.
Initial plans for Stargate, which is beginning construction in Texas, date back to Biden’s time in office. Tech news outlet The Information reported on the project in March 2024.
Trump also attended a national prayer service Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral, a customary visit for new presidents and one that wrapped up four days of inauguration-related events.
One of the speakers at the interfaith service, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, used her sermon to send a message to Trump, urging compassion for LGBTQ+ people and undocumented migrant workers.
“You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, who has criticized Trump before.
Asked afterward by a reporter what he thought of the service, Trump said: “Not too exciting was it. I didn’t think it was a good service. They could do much better.”
Later in the day, the president met with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other GOP legislators. It was the first formal sit-down for the GOP leadership teams, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso and the new president, as they chart priorities for using Republican power in Washington.
Despite an ambitious 100-day agenda, the Republican-led Congress is not on the same page on some ideas and strategies as they rush to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportations and other goals for Trump.
Trump used the first hours of his presidency Monday to sign a series of executive orders and memorandums, moving quickly to show that his new hold on the U.S. government would be a stark change from his predecessor.
He pardoned hundreds of people for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords and the World Health Organization, began his immigration crackdown by declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and sought to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in America, which is expected to run into constitutional challenges.
He also signed an order that intends to pause a ban on TikTok for 75 days to give its China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer.
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Darlene Superville, Tiffany Stanley in Washington, Jill Colvin in New York and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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This story has been updated to correct Trump’s quote on the prayer service.