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1 week ago

Trump moves inauguration indoors amid record-breaking cold as list of Democrats skipping event grows: Live updates

President-elect says he has ordered inauguration and speeches to take place in the Capitol Rotunda ‘as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985’

Oliver O'Connell,Joe Sommerlad,Gustaf Kilander
Saturday 18 January 2025 02:55 GMT
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Kristi Noem won't say if she will withhold disaster aid if Trump asks

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The inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will be moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda on Monday because frigid temperatures are expected in the nation’s capital.

It’s set to be the coldest inauguration day in four decades.

“I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has overseen a number of January 6 cases, said during a sentencing hearing Friday that her recent visit to the Capitol served as a reminder that “people came in and desecrated that beautiful space,” Politico reported.

This comes as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem – Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security and best known for bragging about shooting dead her dog Cricket in her memoir – dodged questions by senators at her confirmation hearing on Friday on whether she would dare stand up to the president-elect if he threatened to withhold federal disaster relief funding from blue states.

Meanwhile, the number of Democrats who have reportedly said they will skip the inauguration, continues to grow.

1 week ago

Biden sets record and commutes sentences of 2,500 non-violent drug offenders in final days as president

President Biden will commute the sentences of roughly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses, the White House announced on Friday.

“This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars,” Biden said in a statement. “I am proud of my record on clemency and will continue to review additional commutations and pardons.”

The announcement, coupled with Biden’s decision last month to commute the sentences of about 1,500 people put on home confinement during the Covid pandemic, means the Democrat has issued the most individual pardons and commutations of any president, according to The Associated Press.

Read more:

Biden commutes sentences of 2,500 non-violent drug offenders in final days in office

Sweeping commutations come after Biden lessened sentences of 1,500 people last month

Josh Marcus17 January 2025 21:20
1 week ago

WATCH: Kristi Noem Pressed On Role Of Trump Border Czar Tom Homan

Kristi Noem Pressed On Role Of Trump Border Czar Tom Homan
Gustaf Kilander17 January 2025 21:00
1 week ago

‘People came in and desecrated that beautiful space’

On Monday, Trump will be inaugurated in the Capitol Rotunda, where his supporters laid siege to the Congress just four years previously.

On Friday, one of the participants in the riot, Brian Kelly, was sentenced to 10 days in prison by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, according to Politico.

“I only wish the rest of the country could see some of the things I see,” she said before handing down the sentence.

“This may be, based on what happens outside these courthouse walls, the last one of these. I don’t know,” she added.

Chutkan noted she had never been to the Capitol before paying her respects during the lying-in-state of President Jimmy Carter. After overseeing a number of January 6 cases, she said the visit was a reminder that “people came in and desecrated that beautiful space.”

Gustaf Kilander17 January 2025 20:40
1 week ago

Rapper Nelly to perform at a Donald Trump’s inaugural ball

Rapper Nelly is set to perform at the Inaugural Liberty Ball on January 20 with Donald Trump in attendance.

According to sources close to the event planning, the 50-year-old artist will join the Village People and country star Jason Aldean as the entertainment for the night, CBS reported.

Nelly previously confessed he didn’t care for Trump in 2017 amid his first term. “You know the thing about Donald Trump is that I liked Donald Trump, I did, I just don’t like Donald Trump as my president,” he told Page Six at the time. “He doesn’t surprise me as a person, he surprises me as a president because you don’t expect certain things, certain attitudes.”

Read more:

Rapper Nelly to perform at a Donald Trump’s inaugural ball

Other musical guests throughout inaugural events include Village People, Carrie Underwood and Kid Rock

Kaleigh Werner17 January 2025 20:20
1 week ago

Trump sticking with fire-ravaged Los Angeles for Olympics despite calls from GOP to move it to a red-state

Donald Trump has vowed to keep the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, despite calls from Republicans to move the games to a red state in the wake of the city’s devastating wildfires.

The president-elect promised to make the competition “the greatest Games” and said that they were “more important than ever to LA,” as city authorities continue to deal with the fallout from the blazes, which have so far claimed the lives of at least 25 people across southern California.

“These are America’s Olympics,” Trump said, according to Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA 2028 organizing committee, who met with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.

Wesserman told Axios that Trump had added: “These are more important than ever to LA and I’m going to be supportive in every way possible to make them the greatest Games.”

Mike Bedigan has more.

Trump sticking with LA for Olympics despite calls from GOP to move to a red-state

The President-elect has vowed to make the competition ‘the greatest Games’ and said that they were ‘more important than ever to L.A.,’ in the wake of the devastating wildfires that have hit southern California

Joe Sommerlad17 January 2025 20:00
1 week ago

Tim Walz mocks Trump for moving inauguration indoors

Gustaf Kilander17 January 2025 19:40
1 week ago

‘The Equal Rights Amendment belongs in our Constitution,’ Harris says

Senator Kristen Gillibrand, who launched a one-woman lobbying effort to convince Joe Biden to get the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution, told reporters Friday that the president’s announcement today “superseded” the national archivist, which is responsible for physically amending it.

“The only thing we have to do now is enforce what is the 28th amendment to the constitution,” she said.

The archivist’s role is a “ministerial” one, and “she has no constitutional role and no right to insert herself into the constitutional process.”

“He has just done her job for her. He is her boss,” she said. “He issued the statement that it is the law of the land … He’s done it for her.”

Equality is a fundamental promise of our democracy. That is why the Equal Rights Amendment belongs in our Constitution. It makes our nation stronger, and it is the law of the land because the American people have spoken in states across our nation.

History teaches us that civil rights are fought for and won with every generation. That continues to be true today, which is why I have spent my career fighting for freedoms and to expand opportunities for women and girls. It has always been clear that when we lift up women, we lift up children, families, communities, and all of society. Now, Americans must continue to fight for a more equal and just nation where everyone has the opportunity to realize the promise of America.

Vice President Kamala Harris
Alex Woodward17 January 2025 19:20
1 week ago

Georgia Court of Appeals reject attempt by Fulton prosecutors to restore counts removed from indictment against Trump and others

Gustaf Kilander17 January 2025 19:00
1 week ago

Trump’s DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy reportedly announcing campaign for Ohio governor

Vivek Ramaswamy, the billionaire biotech entrepreneur joining Elon Musk to recommend drastic cuts to federal spending in Donald Trump’s administration, reportedly plans to run for governor of Ohio.

Ramaswamy — who was reportedly considering a run for J.D. Vance’s open U.S. Senate seat, with Trump’s encouragement — is expected to announce a campaign to replace the state’s term-limited Republican Governor Mike DeWine, according toThe Washington Post.

On Friday, DeWine is expected to tap the state’s Lt. Gov Jon Husted to fill the vacant Senate seat, after Vance’s resignation to serve as vice president under Trump.

Read more:

DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy reportedly announcing campaign for Ohio governor

Billionaire DOGE co-chair is expected to announce his campaign after he was passed over to fill JD Vance’s seat

Alex Woodward17 January 2025 18:40
1 week ago

Ohio Governor announces Lt Gov Jon Husted as Vance replacement in Senate

Gustaf Kilander17 January 2025 18:29

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