US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended… Pardons and commutations Among the nearly 1,500 defendants charged with crimes connected to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, including some who have been convicted of felonies. Assaulting police officers.
Trump, in one of the first presidential actions of his second term, commuted the sentences of 14 inmates and pardoned all others convicted of crimes related to the 2021 riots. He also directed the attorney general to dismiss all indictments pending before judges in connection with what has become the largest federal investigation At all.
“They spent years in prison,” Trump said in response to questions from reporters at the White House about why he pardoned violent crime perpetrators. “They did not have to serve, and they spent years in prison. Murderers don’t even go to prison in this country.”
“We have pardoned people who were treated incredibly poorly,” he added.
Many of those pardoned had been convicted of violent attacks on police officers defending the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory. The amnesty applies to people who were armed with items such as stun guns, batons and axes.
Trump went on to say that members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia, were serving sentences he described as “ridiculous and excessive,” adding that among the cases the White House looked at, “these were people who actually love our country.” So we thought a pardon would be appropriate. Some oath keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy related to January 6.
Trump used the topic to repeatedly return to the issue of violent crime in American cities, as well as the pardons Biden signed for House committee members on January 6 and, separately, for his relatives upon leaving office.
Trump addressed a variety of hot-button issues during the question-and-answer session, telling reporters that it was “possible” that his administration would impose additional sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin does not come to the table to negotiate a political solution. Dealing with Ukraine in the war.
Trump also said his administration plans to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on February 1 due to the “millions and millions of people” he said each country has allowed into the United States, as well as a flood of dangerous drugs. Additionally, Trump said his team is discussing the possibility of imposing a 10% tariff on China.
He was asked about his position on the immigrant visa program It sparked a huge backlash Among some of his populist supporters, Trump hedged, saying he was “kind of on both sides of the argument.”
“I like both sides, but I also like high-quality people who come to our country, even if that involves training them and helping others who may not have the qualifications they do,” Trump said of H-1B temporary worker visas. , which is a cut for highly skilled workers who some in the MAGA world say are taking American jobs.
Trump, after ordering the suspension of the US ban on TikTok on his first day in office, said he would be “open” to Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul overseeing a mandate to improve government efficiency, or billionaire Larry Ellison buying the company so it can continue to… Work in the country.
“It has no value if it doesn’t get a permit,” Trump said about TikTok, after former President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring the app’s owner, the Chinese company ByteDance, to sell most of its stake.
It was the second day in a row that Trump took questions from reporters at the White House, highlighting the policy issues of the day and responding to follow-ups in a return to the freewheeling, unscripted dynamic that emerged repeatedly during his first term.
