On Tuesday, President Donald Trump justified the pardons and commutations of over 1,500 defendants, some of whom had been found guilty of assaulting police officers, who were accused of offenses related to the Capitol incident on January 6.
In one of the first executive actions of his second administration, Trump pardoned all other those convicted of crimes connected to the 2021 riot and shortened the sentences of 14 inmates. In connection with what turned out to be the biggest federal investigation in history, he also ordered the attorney general to drop any indictments that were still pending before judges.
When asked why he pardoned violent offenders by White House reporters, Trump responded, “They’ve served years in jail.” They spent years behind bars, and they shouldn’t have. Furthermore, murders in this nation are not even imprisoned.
“We pardoned people who were treated unbelievably poorly,” he continued.
When Congress was recognizing Joe Biden’s electoral victory on January 6, 2021, several of those who were pardoned had been found guilty of violent attacks on police personnel guarding the Capitol. Those who were carrying weapons like hatchets, batons, and stun guns are eligible for the pardons.
Trump continued by saying that members of the far-right militia known as the Oath Keepers were serving terms that he described as absurd and disproportionate, and that after the White House’s review of the cases, “we thought a pardon would be appropriate because these were people who actually love our country.” A few Oath Keepers were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with January 6.
Trump brought up the topic of violent crime in American cities on numerous occasions, as well as the pardons Biden signed for the members of the House Jan. 6 committee and, separately, for his family members as he was leaving office.
During the Q&A session, Trump discussed a number of contentious topics, telling reporters that if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t sit down to negotiate a deal with Ukraine in the war, his administration would probably impose further sanctions on Russia.
In addition, Trump stated that his government intends to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on February 1st due to the “millions and millions of people” that each nation has permitted to enter the United States and the influx of deadly drugs. Trump added that his team is debating whether to impose a 10% tariff on China.
Trump defended his stance on an immigration visa program that has caused a lot of anger among some of his populist fans by stating that he is “sort of on both sides of the argument.”
Regarding H-1B temporary worker visas, which are a carve-out for highly skilled workers who some in the MAGA world claim are stealing American jobs, Trump stated, “I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do.”
On his first day in office, Trump ordered the suspension of a U.S. ban on TikTok and stated that he would be “open” to the idea of either billionaire Larry Ellison or Elon Musk, the tech tycoon who is in charge of a mandate to increase government efficiency, purchasing the company to allow it to stay in business in the United States.
After a law signed by former President Joe Biden last year forced the app’s owner, the Chinese corporation ByteDance, to sell the majority of its stock, Trump said of TikTok, “It’s worthless if it doesn’t get a permit.”
For the second consecutive day, Trump received questions from reporters at the White House, offering his thoughts on the day’s policy concerns and answering follow-up questions, reverting to the spontaneous, unstructured style that was common during his first term.