Donald Trump has said that attacks on police officers during the January 6 riots were “minor incidents”.
In his first sit-down interview since being inaugurated on Monday, recorded in the Oval Office, Mr Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity most of those who were jailed over the US Capitol riots were “absolutely innocent”.
As part of a flurry of executive orders on his first day back in office, the president pardoned around 1,500 people who were convicted over the unrest – including more than 200 who were jailed for felony assault on police officers.
Speaking to Hannity on Fox, Mr Trump said of those convicted: “Nobody’s ever been treated so badly. They were treated like the worst criminals in history.”
He went on to claim those at the US Capitol were simply there “protesting the vote” before again falsely claiming the 2020 election was “rigged”.
When asked by Mr Hannity about the pardons for those jailed for assault, the president said: “They were very minor incidents, and it was time.”
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The president was equally dismissive of the alleged threat to US security posed by TikTok.
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He ordered the reactivation of the video-sharing site shortly after it had been closed down in the US by a law passed under the Biden administration, because of concerns over links between the owners and the Chinese government and the perceived threat to personal data.
He said “we have so many things made in China” and questioned why it would be important for China to be spying on “young kids watching crazy videos”.
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Elsewhere, Mr Trump said the US government should not give California aid to help rebuild after wildfires in Los Angeles until it uses water from the northern part of the state.
The president has accused Governor Gavin Newsom of refusing to redirect water from northern California as it protects the Delta smelt – an endangered species of fish. Mr Newsom has denied the claim
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” he said.
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Mr Hannity also asked the president about surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer, where Mr Trump was shot in the ear by a gunman after turning his head at the moment the shot rang out.
Mr Trump said it was “split second perfect timing” to look at the immigration board he had behind him that day, and added: “I don’t think you can just call it luck.”
When asked if surviving the attempt had changed him, the president said: “I haven’t changed. But it’s increased my faith in God.”
What you see is what you get.
President Trump doesn’t have one face on camera and another off it. His first broadcast interview since his return to the White House on Monday was entirely predictable.
The questions asked by Sean Hannity of Fox News seemed irrelevant to him. He had already decided what he wanted to talk about and hit every square in the Trump political bingo card.
There was the same old criticism of Joe Biden, of the Democrats’ response to the wildfires in California, and of their policies on immigration.
And there was defence of his decision to pardon January 6 rioters, whose offences he down-played as “very, very minor”.
When the interviewer tried to interrupt him to talk about the economy, he replied: “I don’t care.”
That “don’t care” approach turns every interview or press conference, either planned of impromptu, into a monologue.
It’s Donald’s way or the highway, but that’s the route that’s been chosen by the American people.
You had better get used to the song, because he has no plan to change the record in the next four years.
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After previously promising to do so in his first term in office, Mr Trump also suggested his administration was looking into releasing all information on the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
He told Mr Hannity that Mike Pompeo – his first secretary of state – raised national security concerns over the release of documents, but said he is still looking at declassifying them.
“I’m going to release them immediately upon getting – we’re going to see the information – we’re looking at it right now,” he said.
Mr Trump inevitably spent some time railing against the previous administration, but again said Joe Biden had left a nice letter for him in the drawer of the desk in the Oval Office, the contents of which he has now allowed to be published.
Biden’s letter to Trump in full
Dear President Trump,
As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years.
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.
– Joe Biden
