Trump 2nd term live updates: Johnson doesn't 'second-guess' his Jan. 6 pardons
President Donald Trump has kicked off his second term with a flurry of executive actions on immigration, the economy, DEI and more.
Legal challenges have already been mounted against his effort to end birthright citizenship and action that makes it easier to fire career government employees. Fallout also continues from his pardoning more than a thousand rioters convicted in connection with the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Meanwhile, lawmakers will continue to question and process the president's Cabinet picks. New allegations against Pete Hegseth, tapped to lead the Pentagon, are being reported as the Senate moves toward a final vote on his nomination.
Latest Developments
Jan 22, 12:40 PM
Biden's letter to Trump revealed by Fox News
Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy read aloud on-air the content of the letter left by former President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump.
"As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years," Biden wrote, according to Fox News. "The American people -- and people around the world -- look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation."
"May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding," Biden wrote.
Trump held up the letter for reporters on Monday night as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office. He described it to reporters on Tuesday as "very nice" and that he appreciated it.
Jan 22, 12:29 PM
Federal DEI employees to be put on leave by 5 p.m. today
All federal employees working on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives must be put on paid administrative leave by Wednesday at 5 p.m., according to a memo obtained by ABC News.
The decision comes as the Trump administration shuts down the relevant DEI offices and programs across the federal government.
Trump is also threatening "strong action" against DEI programs in the private sector, including possible civil compliance investigations.
Jan 22, 11:54 AM
Video captures JD Vance's 1st time in Oval Office
House Speaker Mike Johnson posted a video on X of President Trump taking Vice President JD Vance into the Oval Office for the first time on Tuesday.
Trump can be seen walking ahead of Vance in the halls of the West Wing before showing him into the office. He introduced Vance to his communications adviser, Margo Martin, who was standing at the door to the Oval Office.
"Wow, this is pretty crazy," Vance says as Johnson narrated the video. He later said it was "incredible."
Johnson praised Vance's path to the White House, writing that "only in America can a hardworking young man from Appalachia rise from his humble circumstances to enter the Oval for first time" as vice president.
Jan 22, 12:00 PM
Bishop Budde defends 'mercy' sermon against Trump’s criticism, says she seeks ‘unity’
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde on Wednesday defended her sermon at a traditional inaugural prayer service on Tuesday directly calling on President Trump to show "mercy" toward immigrants and trans people.
Speaking on ABC's "The View," she emphasized she was seeking to create "unity" and to "counter the narrative that is so divisive and polarizing."
"I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being, basic honesty and humility and then I also realized that unity requires a certain degree of mercy -- mercy and compassion and understanding," she said, after Trump demanded she apologize.
"I was trying to speak a truth that I felt needed to be said, but to do it as respectful and kind a way as I could," she added. "And also to bring other voices into the conversation … voices that had not been heard in the public space for some time."
When asked if she had an opportunity to share her thoughts one-on-one with the president, Budde said she had not been invited but would welcome the opportunity.
"I can assure him and everyone listening that I would be as respectful as I would with any person, and certainly of his office for which I have a great deal of respect, but … the invitation would have to come from him," she said.
Jan 22, 11:46 AM
Trump demands Putin to ‘make a deal’ to end war
Trump has sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding he make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
“It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!” Trump wrote in a new social media post.
Trump indicated that if a deal isn’t made quickly, he would impose high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on Russia.
“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a “deal,” and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Trump said.
Trump then threatened that it can be done “the easy way, or the hard way.”
-- ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
Jan 22, 11:58 AM
Mike Johnson says he won't 'second-guess' Trump pardons for Jan. 6 rioters
Speaker Mike Johnson said he doesn't question Trump's decision to pardon more than thousand people convicted in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including some violent offenders.
"The president's made his decision, I don't second guess those," Johnson said at a news conference alongside House Republican leadership.
"And yes, you know, it's kind of my ethos, my worldview, we believe in redemption, we believe in second chances," Johnson said. "If you could -- would argue that those people didn't pay a heavy penalty having been incarcerated and all of that, that's up to you."
Other Republicans had mixed reactions to the news when asked by ABC News on Tuesday. Some claimed they'd "never" seen video of rioters attacking police. Others said Trump's move was something they "just can't agree" with.
Jan 22, 11:38 AM
Trump OMB pick Russell Vought testifies at confirmation hearing
Russell Vought, who led the Office of Management and Budget during Trump's first term, is facing questions from senators on the Budget Committee.
Vought was involved in Project 2025, the controversial conservative blueprint for a second Trump term that Trump tried to distance himself from while on the campaign trail.
If confirmed, Vought would see through the implementation of a Trump executive order to terminate DEI programs in the federal government.
Jan 22, 10:29 AM
Trump team instructs DOJ to investigate state officials who obstruct immigration enforcement efforts
A top Trump administration official sent a memo to the Justice Department workforce ordering criminal investigations into any state and local actors who may attempt to obstruct enforcement of federal immigration laws, according to a copy obtained by ABC News.
The memo further details a series of policy changes being rolled out in the department as a result of multiple executive orders signed by Trump, including the establishment of a "Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group."
As ABC News reported, multiple longtime senior level officials in DOJ's Criminal and National Security Divisions were given an abrupt notice of their reassignment to the task force.
The move has already caused alarm among many current and former officials in the department who see it as an exodus of the department's career "braintrust" on major national security and public corruption cases and a sign the Trump team is placing loyalty to the president's agenda above the typical norms and expertise of officials.
-ABC News' Alexander Mallin
Jan 22, 10:26 AM
ICE updates terminology from noncitizen to 'alien'
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is updating their terminology as a result of the election.
From now on, those they are arresting will be referred to as "alien" as opposed to "noncitizen" and those in the country without authorization will be referred to as "illegal alien" according to an internal ICE memo obtained by ABC News.
"ICE employees are directed to use the lexicon consistent with the immigration and nationality act and the language historically used by the agency," according to the memo.
The Biden administration changed the language in 2021 when former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued terminology guidance. Trump's used increasingly dark rhetoric on the campaign trail when talking about migrants, including calling some of them "animals."
-ABC News' Luke Barr
