WASHINGTON- Donald Trump pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago as he moved swiftly to impose his will on the US government just hours after reclaiming the presidency on Monday.
After a day of ceremony, Trump signed a series of executive actions to curb immigration and roll back environmental regulations and racial and gender diversity initiatives. He did not take immediate action to raise tariffs, a key campaign promise, but said he could impose 25% duties on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1.
That sent the Mexican peso sliding 1% against the dollar while the Canadian dollar tumbled to a five-year low of C$1.4515.
The news also quickly reversed gains in global stock markets and sent the greenback strongly rebounding across the board in choppy trade.
Trump’s decision to pardon supporters who attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is sure to enrage police, lawmakers and others whose lives were put at risk during an unprecedented episode in modern US history.
Roughly 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack, with some sprayed with chemical irritants and others struck with pipes, poles and other weapons. Four people died during the chaos, including a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police.
Trump ordered 14 leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militant groups, who were serving long prison sentences, released from prison early, but left their convictions intact.
Earlier in the day, Trump, 78, took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda, where a mob of his supporters had rampaged on Jan. 6 in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
At the ceremony, Trump portrayed himself as a savior chosen by God to rescue a faltering nation. His inauguration amounts to a triumphant return for a political disruptor who survived two assassination attempts and won election despite a criminal conviction and a prosecution stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said.
Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a second term after losing the White House and the first felon to occupy the White House. The oldest president ever to be sworn in, he is backed by Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Trump moved quickly to clamp down on illegal immigration, a signature issue since he first entered politics in 2015.
Shortly after he took the oath of office, US border authorities shut down a program that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the US legally by scheduling an appointment through a smartphone. Existing appointments were canceled.
Nearly 1,660 Afghans who had been cleared by the US government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty US military personnel, were having their flights canceled under a Trump order suspending US refugee programs, a US official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday.
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