Donald Trump was sentenced to “unconditional discharge” by Judge Juan Merchan at Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday — just 10 days before his second inauguration to the presidency — after being found guilty on all counts at his hush money trial last year.
The Supreme Court declined to stop the sentencing, its justices ruling 5-4 in favor of allowing Judge Merchan to proceed.
The president-elect appeared virtually for the hearing and reiterated his objections to the case, repeating his claim that he was “very, very unfairly treated.”
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to hide payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to ensure her silence ahead of Election Day about an extramarital sexual encounter she alleges they had a decade earlier.
Trump insisted he would be filing a fresh appeal. He will be the first convicted felon to hold the office of the presidency.
Yesterday, Trump attended the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter in Washington, D.C., sitting alongside fellow commanders-in-chief Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Bill Clinton.
He has otherwise been promoting his dreams of acquiring Canada and Greenland and attacking California Governor Gavin Newsom over the Los Angeles wildfires.
Key Points
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Trump avoids jail in hush money sentence but is set to be first felon president
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Trump defiant he did nothing wrong
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Trump promises Vladimir Putin meeting: ‘We are setting it up’
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Special counsel’s report on Trump January 6 investigation can be released, appeals court rules
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Elon Musk admits DOGE won’t find $2 trillion worth of cuts in federal budget
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What is an unconditional discharge sentence?
21:10 , Oliver O’Connell
It is outrageous and shameful that Mr. Giuliani dares to suggest that he is the one being treated unfairly when he heard the evidence at trial. This takes real chutzpah, Mr. Giuliani!
Judge Beryl Howell finding former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court
BREAKING: Giuliani found in contempt of court (for second time)
21:02 , Oliver O’Connell
Having been found in contempt of court in New York earlier this month over the defamation case he lost in 2023, Rudy Giuliani has now been found in contempt of court in the District of Columbia for repeating defamatory comments.
Judge Beryl Howell is now handing down her ruling…
Judge Howell: “The court finds with clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Giuliani violated this injunction in at least six ways.”
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) January 10, 2025
Here’s the background to today’s hearing:
Don Jr’s Greenland MAGA ‘supporters’ included unhoused people, reports say
21:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump Jr.’s team gave unhoused and “socially disadvantaged” people MAGA hats and offered them a free meal during his recent trip to Greenland, according to a Danish media outlet.
Trump’s oldest son visited Greenland this week as his father expressed interest in buying the island — despite officials making it clear it’s not for sale.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
Don Jr’s ‘supporters’ on Greenland trip were unhoused people given MAGA hats: report
ICYMI: Trump calls SCOTUS decision ‘fair’ ahead of hush money sentencing as he promises to appeal verdict
20:40 , Oliver O’Connell
Prosecutors seek 15 years in prison for former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez after bribery conviction
20:30 , AP
Prosecutors say former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez should be imprisoned for 15 years for a “grave abuse of his power,” after the New Jersey Democrat became the first person to be convicted of abusing a Senate committee leadership position and the first U.S. public official to be convicted of serving as a foreign agent.
In papers filed late Thursday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors called for the lengthy prison term for the 71-year-old Menendez when he is sentenced on Jan. 29.
Continue reading…
Prosecutors seek 15 years in prison for former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez after bribery conviction
Next week’s cover of ‘The New Yorker’
20:09 , Oliver O’Connell
TikTok: Supreme Court slams First Amendment arguments as app makes last ditch effort to avoid ban
20:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Supreme Court justices slammed First Amendment arguments made by TikTok as the popular social media app tries to avoid a U.S. ban in the coming days.
Lawyers for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, went before the Supreme Court on Friday, days before the ban is set to begin. The government passed a ban on the app, unless it is sold, citing national security concerns and its ties to China’s communist party. The ban is set to begin in just days.
TikTok has argued that the app should be able to exist in the U.S. under free speech claims.
Ariana Baio has been following developments today.
Supreme Court slams First Amendment arguments by TikTok
Strong jobs report from the holidays sees US unemployment drop further
19:30 , Oliver O’Connell
U.S. job growth surged and unemployment fell during the holidays, showing the strength of the economy.
However, not all news was rosy out of Friday’s Labor Department report, the unexpected show of strength may prove costly to homebuyers and businesses who were counting sharply lower interest rates that would lower the cost of buying everything from refrigerators to homes.
Job growth rose 212,000 last month from November, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Continue reading…
US sees unemployment drop further after strong jobs report from the holidays
Judge Merchan sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge. What does that mean?
19:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Justice Juan Merchan sentenced President-elect Donald Trump to an unconditional discharge on Friday. The measure is a rare and lenient sentence in the New York state court system that still means that Trump will enter office on January 20th as a felon.
Gustaf Kilander explains.
A judge has sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge. What does that mean?
Supreme Court appears likely to uphold TikTok ban law
18:50 , AP
The Supreme Court on Friday seemed likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company.
Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company’s connections to China override concerns about restricting the speech, either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States.
Supreme Court seems likely to uphold a federal law that could force TikTok to shut down on Jan. 19
Wife of Taliban detainee heads to Mar-a-Lago to try for meeting with Trump
18:30 , Oliver O’Connell
The wife of Taliban detainee Ryan Corbett has announced her decision to show up unannounced to President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to forcibly demand his help in securing her husband’s release.
The decision, announced in a video on X, came as US-Taliban discussions proposed the exchange of a prisoner being held in Guantanamo Bay for the release of three Americans being held captive in Afghanistan, reports CNN.
Madeline Sherratt reports.
Ryan Corbett’s wife, Anna, heads to Mar-a-Lago in attempt to meet with Trump
DC judge lays into Giuliani at contempt hearing
18:21 , Oliver O’Connell
Judge Beryl Howell begins Rudy Giuliani’s contempt hearing by saying she’d hoped, after sitting through the civil trial and agreeing to a consent agreement, Giuliani would “stop saying such fabricated lies. Especially publicly.”
Just before the hearing began, Giuliani attacked Howell as “bloodthirsty.”
He now keeps trying to speak over her.
Judge Beryl Howell, the Obama appointee who is so bloodthirsty that she is very disappointed with the sentences of the more than 1,000 J-6 defendants (more convicted of misdemeanors than felonies) is making us wait all day for her inevitable highly prejudiced, usual, biased…
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) January 10, 2025
Report: DOGE agents dispatched across the country
18:10 , Oliver O’Connell
Agents representing Donald Trump’s newly-formed “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) – the non-governmental agency being spearheaded by tech billionaire duo Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – tasked with trimming excess federal spending – have already set to work, even before the new president has been inaugurated.
Surrogates for DOGE, which is still very much a work-in-progress, have already visited 12 federal agencies for preliminary interviews with staffers about the running of those workplaces, The Washington Post reports.
Joe Sommerlad has the details.
DOGE agents dispatched across the country, report says
Biden admin extends temporary status for 800,000 from Venezuela and El Salvador, 10 days before Trump takes office
17:58 , AP
About 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 200,000 Salvadorans already living in the United States can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday, barely a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with promises of hardline immigration policies.
The decisions mark the Biden administration’s latest in support of Temporary Protected Status, which he has sharply expanded to cover about 1 million people. TPS faces an uncertain future under Trump, who tried to sharply curtail its use during his first term as president.
The announcement, which came as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro took office for a third six-year term in Caracas amid widespread international condemnation, is “based on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the Maduro regime,” the department said.
Homeland Security cited “environmental conditions in El Salvador that prevent individuals from returning,” specifically heavy rains and storms in the last two years.
The TPS designation gives people legal authority to be in the country but it doesn’t provide them a long-term path to citizenship. They are reliant on the government renewing their status when it expires. Conservative critics have said that over time, the renewal of the protection status becomes automatic, regardless of what is happening in the person’s home country.
Biden less popular leaving office than Trump and Obama
17:30 , Oliver O’Connell
As Joe Biden prepares to leave office, Americans have a dimmer view of his presidency than they did at the end of Donald Trump’s first term or Barack Obama’s second, a new poll finds.
Around one-quarter of U.S. adults said Biden was a “good” or “great” president, with less than 1 in 10 saying he was “great,” according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Read on…
Biden is less popular leaving office than Trump and Obama were
ANALYSIS: Trump’s hush money sentence ensures a convicted felon is going to the White House
17:05 , Oliver O’Connell
Alex Woodward has been following the Trump hush money case for The Independent since the beginning. Here he takes a look at what the verdict means:
Trump’s hush money sentence ensures a convicted felon is going to the White House
In other sentencing news… prosecutors seek 15 years for Sen. Bob Menendez
16:50 , AP
Prosecutors say former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez should be imprisoned for 15 years, after the Democrat from New Jersey became the first to be convicted of abusing a Senate committee leadership position and the first public official to be convicted of serving as a foreign agent.
In papers filed late Thursday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors called for the lengthy prison term for the 71-year-old Menendez when he is sentenced on Jan. 29.
Menendez was convicted in July of 16 corruption charges brought after an FBI raid on his residence in 2022 turned up $150,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash, much of which prosecutors alleged was the result of bribes paid by three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator to use his power to protect their interests and make them money.
When he was charged in fall 2023, Menendez was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was forced out of that position in 2023 and gave up his Senate seat in August.
In presentence arguments last week, defense lawyers called for Judge Sidney H. Stein to be lenient with Menendez, saying his conviction had “rendered him a national punchline and stripped him of every conceivable personal, professional, and financial benefit.”
“Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence,” the lawyers said.
16:32 , Oliver O’Connell
New York State Judge Juan Merchan sentences President-elect Donald Trump as he appears remotely alongside his lawyer Todd Blanche. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass listens at the New York Criminal Court in Manhattan (REUTERS)
Meanwhile, Giuliani is in court in Washington, D.C. for another contempt hearing
16:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Rudy Giuliani, second from right, waves as he arrives at federal court in Washington (AP)
Here’s what you need to know:
Judge will weigh holding Giuliani in contempt of court after jury’s $148 million defamation award
Trump sentencing: What is a sentence of unconditional discharge?
16:21 , Oliver O’Connell
Here’s what a sentence of unconditional discharge means per New York State penal law:
1. Criteria. The court may impose a sentence of unconditional discharge in any case where it is authorized to impose a sentence of conditional discharge under section 65.05 if the court is of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant’s release.
When a sentence of unconditional discharge is imposed for a felony, the court shall set forth in the record the reasons for its action.
2. Sentence. When the court imposes a sentence of unconditional discharge, the defendant shall be released with respect to the conviction for which the sentence is imposed without imprisonment, fine or probation supervision. A sentence of unconditional discharge is for all purposes a final judgment of conviction.
The sentence confirms the conviction and status as a criminal felon, but no punishment is given. The judge must give a reason for the sentence; in this case, the felon is about to assume the office of the presidency and any punishment would impede the carrying out of that role.
Trump claims ‘Radical Democrats’ lost case because of sentencing he becomes first felon president
15:52 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump claims in a Truth Social rant that the “Radical Democrats” lost the case that will make him the first felon president when he takes office on January 20 as he was only sentenced to unconditional discharge.
The president-elect wrongly takes this to mean that there was no case after all. However, Judge Juan Merchan specifically explained that the unconditional discharge sentence protects the office of the presidency, not the individual: “It is the legal protections afforded to the office of the President of the United States that are extraordinary — not the occupant of the office.”
Merchan said of the protections of the presidency: “They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way. One power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict.”
“Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections,” he added.
“This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction without encroachment on the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge.”
Here’s what Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after leaving court, calling the sentencing “a despicable charade” and vowing to appeal “this Hoax”:
The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE. That result alone proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED. The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this “case” had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference. Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Trump defiant he did nothing wrong as judge lets off felon president-elect with slap on wrist
15:35 , Oliver O’Connell
President-elect Donald Trump ranted about his innocence and having a ‘very terrible experience’ during his hush-money trial moments before a judge sentenced him to no jail time or fines in the historic case.
New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge on Friday after a jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May. This sentence means Trump will not face any jail time or fines.
Alex Woodward and Katie Hawkinson report.
Trump defiant he did nothing wrong as judge let’s him off with slap on wrist
In pictures: Inside the courtroom for historic sentencing of President-elect Trump
15:27 , Oliver O’Connell
Donadl Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts in his hush money criminal trial last year but maintains he was treated unfairly (Getty Images)
Attorney Emil Bove, left, listens as Attorney Todd Blanche and President-elect Trump, seen on a television screen, appear virtually for sentencing (via REUTERS)
Full story: Trump avoids jail in hush money sentence but is set to be first felon president
15:16 , Oliver O’Connell
Alex Woodward reports from Manhattan’s Criminal Court:
Donald Trump will return to the White House as the first-ever criminally convicted president after his sentencing in a Manhattan courtroom, where the judge presiding over his criminal hush money trial declined to send him to jail but preserved the jury’s historic verdict against the president-elect.
New York Justice Juan Merchan told the former president on January 10 that “the only lawful sentence” remaining for his crimes is that of an unconditional discharge.
“I wish you godspeed as you serve a second term in office,” he said before leaving the court.
Continue reading…
Trump avoids jail in hush money sentence but is set to be first felon president
Trump sentenced to ‘unconditional discharge’
15:09 , Alex Woodward
“Never before has this court been presented with such a set of unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” says Judge Juan Merchan solemnly from the bench.
He notes that sentencing, no matter what the crime is always very difficult.
Yet the trial “was a bit of a paradox” that resembled the same 30 or so other cases that took place in the courthouse at the same time, once the doors were closed.
Merchan notes that while the trial was ordinary, the sentencing is not, given the office Trump held and will soon occupy again.
Despite the protections surrounding the presidency, Trump “does not have the power to overturn a jury’s verdict,” Merchan says.
The only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment and conviction … is an unconditional discharge, he continues.
Therefore, at this time I impose this sentence to cover all 34 counts.
“I wish you godspeed as you serve a second term in office,” he concludes.
Trump repeats claim he was ‘treated very, very unfairly’
15:01 , Alex Woodward
“This has been a very terrible experience,” says Donald Trump, when it is his turn to speak.
He repeats his argument from the trial that the matter at the heart of the case — the falsification of business records — is unfounded “…legal fees, legal expenses, were put down as legal expenses by accountants.”
“I didn’t call them construction work or electrical work … And for this, I got indicted. It’s incredible, actually,” he continues.
“Virtually everyone that I know of … not one, these people are not exactly friends of mine, to put it mildly … have all said it’s a case that should never be brought,” says Trump before listing columnists, authors, and legal analysts that he says agree with him, which he has repeatedly done on Truth Social.
“It’s a political witch hunt … And then they voted and I won, got the largest votes by far … and won as you know all swing states … and won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes,” the president-elect continues.
“With all that’s happening today, with one of our largest cities burning to the ground … with all the problems of inflation and tax on countries and all the horrible things are going on, I got indicted for calling a legal expense a legal expense,” Trumps says.
“The DOJ is very involved. You have a person sitting right there … He did what he had to do. He got them to move on me,” he says, talking about Colangelo on the prosecution team.
“I would just like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly. Thank you very much,” he concludes.
‘A sad day for this country,’ says Trump defense attorney
14:55 , Alex Woodward
Speaking Trump’s defense, Todd Blanche says: “I very much disagreed with what the government just said about this case, about the legitimacy of what happened in this courtroom during the trial, and President Trump’s conduct.”
“It’s a sad day for President Trump and his family and friends … and a sad day for this country.”
14:50 , Alex Woodward
“Any undischarged portion of the sentence” has the potential to interfere with his presidency, Steinglass said.
“The most practical sentence is an unconditional discharge,” as Judge Merchan has drawn up, he continued.
“The American public has the right to a presidency unencumbered” by criminal proceedings and obligations, Steinglass added.
The sentencing will “cement the defendant’s status as a convicted felon.”
Trump has ‘purposefully bred disdain for the rule of law,’ says prosecution
14:47 , Alex Woodward
For the prosecution, Steinglass says:“The sanctity of a jury’s verdict and deference to it is a bedrock principle in our nation’s jurisprudence.”
He adds that Trump’s “conduct also merits consideration.”
“Instead of preserving, protecting, and defending” our criminal justice system the “once and future president of the U.S.” has launched a “coordinated campaign to undermine its legitimacy.”
“Far from expressing remorse,” Trump has “purposefully bred disdain for the rule of law.”
He has “encouraged others to reject jury verdicts” with rhetoric that has “only ratcheted up” in the months that followed.
“He has been unrelenting in substantiated attacks” against the court, prosecutors and their families, and the jury.
“Put simply, this defendant has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system.”
According to Steinglass, the officer reported in the probation report that Trump sees himself “as above the law. “
14:40 , Alex Woodward
Judge Merchan confirms that everyone has a copy of a proposed probation report. Blanche says he disagrees with some of the procedural history, “but otherwise, given what we expect today,” he has nothing to add.
The parties are flipping through it.
14:39 , Oliver O’Connell
President-elect Donald Trump, appearing by video link from Florida, faces sentencing in hush money case, in New York (REUTERS)
Trump connected to court by video link
14:35 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump and his attorney, Todd Blanche, appear on small video monitors with U.S. flags behind them. They are in Florida. The president-elect’s other attorney, Emil Bove, is in the courtroom in person.
A small photo pool was allowed inside to capture that, so hopefully, we can share those pictures with you soon.
Trump is wearing his big red tie. Blanche is smiling and nodding. Judge Juan Merchan is in, and we are seated.
Joshua Steinglass and Matthew Colangelo are here for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
In pictures: Outside the court, ‘Rise and Resist’ protest President-elect Trump
14:31 , Oliver O’Connell
Members of the group Rise and Resist protest outside of Manhattan Criminal Court (Getty Images)
Donald Trump’s his hush money sentencing will begin imminently (Getty Images)
There’s also a small counter-protest of Trump supporters.
Trump supporters protest outside of Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of the sentencing of U.S President-elect Donald Trump (Getty)
Prosecution and defense teams enter
14:28 , Oliver O’Connell
The prosecution and defense teams have arrived in the courtroom.
At 9:25, a lone Emil Bove enters and takes a seat at the defense table.
— Tyler McBrien (@TylerMcBrien) January 10, 2025
The scene in court
14:16 , Alex Woodward
Two sets of 10 rows are packed with reporters and attorneys, and court sketch artists are sitting in the jury box, diagonally from where Trump would be sitting, if he were here. Bright fluorescent lights give the room an uncanny glow compared to the harsh blue coming from a few tall windows on the right side of the room. Brass letters reading IN GOD WE TRUST hang about 10 feet above the judge’s bench, where Justice Juan Merchan will be seated in about 15 minutes.
Four large TV monitors are pointed at the audience. Five court officers are prowling the floor.
Latest New Yorker cover roasts Elon Musk for overshadowing Trump
14:15 , Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect’s sentencing hearing should be getting underway in Manhattan Criminal Court within the next 15 minutes – we’ll bring you all the latest developments from there as they happen.
We’re hearing there will be an audio file of the whole event released later today, which should make for interesting listening.
In the meantime, please enjoy this masterpiece cover from The New Yorker.
Trump’s historic hush money sentencing — how we got here
14:09 , Oliver O’Connell
If you’re just joining us this morning, here’s Alex Woodward’s latest dispatch from the courtroom in Lower Manhattan to get you up to speed:
A brief refresher on why we’re here: On May 30, a jury of 12 New Yorkers unanimously voted to convict Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in connection with a scheme to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump falsified accounting records to cover up his reimbursement payments to then-attorney Michael Cohen, who paid Stormy Daniels “hush money” to stop her from going public with her story about having sex with Trump in 2006.
Trump was initially due to be sentenced in July, but after a series of appeals and arguments surrounding the Supreme Court’s “immunity” ruling that month, the sentencing was delayed. It was delayed again after his election victory thrust his criminal cases into unprecedented territory.
This month, Merchan said the best way to wrap up the case and preserve the jury’s verdict before his inauguration, when things get even more complicated, is to issue a sentence without any penalty of jail, fines, or probation.
Judge throws out Biden’s ‘arbitrary’ protections for LGBT+ students
13:55 , Joe Sommerlad
A federal judge has thrown out rule changes designed to protect LGBT+ students from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The rules proposed by President Biden’s administration expanded the scope of Title IX rules that block sex-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.
Biden’s rule changes sought to clarify that long-standing protections against sex-based discrimination also include harassment and abuse around sexual orientation and gender identity.
The changes were at the center of several legal challenges playing out in roughly half the country.
Thursday’s ruling applies nationwide.
In his summary, Kentucky District Judge Danny Reeves called the rules “arbitrary and capricious.”
Alex Woodward has this report.
Judge throws out Biden’s ‘arbitrary’ protections for LGBT+ students
Live: Outside court as Trump to be sentenced in hush money case days before inauguration
13:35 , Joe Sommerlad
Here’s a livestream of the scene outside Manhattan Criminal Court as we await Donald Trump’s historic sentencing.
Biden to start last week of term with speech on foreign policy legacy
13:15 , Joe Sommerlad
President Joe Biden will begin his final week in the White House with a major address aimed at summing up what he considers his administration’s critical work on restoring American alliances and leadership that he will deliver at the State Department on Monday.
A senior administration official described what he viewed as the bleak situation the United States faced on the world stage as Biden grabbed the reins of government from the outgoing Trump administration, during which US alliances “had been badly damaged” by the then former president (now president-elect) Donald Trump’s decision to walk away from “agreements that made America safer.”
Biden aims to “describe how we reclaimed America’s global leadership as a force of stability, put our adversaries in a position of weakness, effectively navigated turbulence around the world and made America stronger,” the official said.
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Biden to kick off last week in office with speech on foreign policy legacy
Trump’s inaccurate claims about LA fires mocked by late-night hosts
12:55 , Joe Sommerlad
Seth Meyers and The Daily Show’s Desi Lydic have been making fun of the president-elect over his unhelpful contributions to this week’s discourse over the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires.
Jacob Stolworthy has this report on what they had to say.
Trump’s ‘inaccurate’ claims about LA fires mocked by late-night hosts
Voices: Mark Zuckerberg is playing politics with Trump – and putting people at risk
12:35 , Joe Sommerlad
The Meta boss has decided to ditch fact-checkers and ask users to contest facts – or create alternative ones, write Alan Rusbridger and Khaled Mansour, who sit on the company’s oversight board.
Truth will take second place to rumour and we all risk paying an exorbitantly high price, they argue.
Mark Zuckerberg is playing politics with Trump – and putting people’s safety at risk
Exclusive: Trump will finish the Ayatollahs in Iran, says Mike Pompeo
12:15 , Joe Sommerlad
The “rotten to the core” Khamenei regime is a “paper tiger” whose time is up, Donald Trump’s former secretary of state has told Iranians campaigning for democracy at a security conference in Paris.
Pompeo, a stalwart of Trump’s first term in the White House, made the comments while addressing a conference held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran in the French capital.
Here’s more from David Maddox.
Trump will finish the Ayatollahs in Iran, says Mike Pompeo
Will Trump be jailed for hush money conviction?
11:55 , Joe Sommerlad
Here’s a comprehensive answer to the question on everybody’s lips from Alex Croft, recapping precisely what the president-elect was found guilty of and what punishment Judge Merchan could be about to hand down.
Will Donald Trump be jailed for hush money conviction?
Line forms for Trump’s historic hush money sentencing
11:35 , Joe Sommerlad
The Independent’s own Alex Woodward is braving sub-zero temperatures to bring us all the latest from inside the courtroom this morning and sends this initial dispatch, typed in between shivers:
Professional line holders and a handful of spectators arrived outside Manhattan Criminal Court before dawn for what is likely the final moment of Donald Trump’s only criminal proceedings, for now.
Hours earlier, the US Supreme Court declined to stop Trump’s sentencing hearing in his hush money case, after he argued that the closure of the trial – and the preservation of a jury’s unanimous guilty verdict – would infringe on his presidency.
The hearing comes nearly eight months after the verdict and has been scrambled several times with Trump’s ongoing claims of “immunity” from prosecution.
New York Justice Juan Merchan ultimately decided the only remaining path forward that keeps the verdict intact before Trump’s inauguration is to issue an “unconditional discharge” – a sentence without jail, probation or fines.
But after weeks of using the courthouse hallways to stump for his campaign and attack prosecutors and the judge, Trump will appear virtually today.
His defense attorneys – now Trump’s nominees to top positions at the Justice Department – are expected to appear.
All the interactions between the presidents at Carter’s funeral
11:15 , Joe Sommerlad
Instances when all five living Amerian presidents come together are rare.
But for Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday, they were all there.
President-elect Donald Trump was the first to arrive alongside former and future first lady Melania Trump.
Barack Obama, the Clintons, Bushes and Bidens were also in attendance.
Michelle Obama was the only living first lady who was absent, with reports claiming she was in Hawaii.
Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff were the last to take their seats among a sea of lawmakers and members of previous administrations. G
iven the funeral’s proximity to the election — and the heated rhetoric over the past few years — some notably awkward moments were spotted by those watching the service.
Here’s more from Gustaf Kilander.
All the awkward interactions between presidents at Jimmy Carter’s funeral
Recap: Joe Biden hails Jimmy Carter’s ‘strength of character’ in moving eulogy
10:55 , Joe Sommerlad
Every living American president filed into pews at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday to honor one of their own at the funeral for Jimmy Carter, who died late last month at 100 years old.
Ther 39th president was remembered as a compassionate Christian and progressive, despite serving a single term in the White House that was seen as a disappointment at the time.
President Joe Biden, who was the first senator to endorse Carter’s successful bid for the White House in 1976, eulogized Carter for having a “deep Christian faith in God” that informed his extraordinary life, during which he “never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world.”
“Throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God and of the people,” said Biden, who praised Carter as having seen “well into the future” even though he had appeared to many as being a relic of “a bygone era.”
Here’s a full report on an emotional day in DC from Andrew Feinberg.
Biden hails Jimmy Carter’s ‘strength of character’ in eulogy for 39th president
Letter signed by 15,000 doctors asks Senate to reject RFK Jr confirmation
10:35 , Joe Sommerlad
Thousands of expert American medical professionals have signed a letter imploring the Senate to reject Robert F Kennedy Jr’s confirmation for secretary of health and human services (HHS) this month.
The letter, organized by the advocacy group Committee to Protect Health Care, called the president-elect’s decision to nominate Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine-sceptic, “a slap in the face to every healthcare professional who has spent their lives working to protect patients from preventable illness and death”.
“The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine, and strengthening the integrity of our public health system,” the letter reads.
“RFK Jr is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency – he is actively dangerous.”
Katie Hawkinson reports.
15,000 doctors sign letter begging Senate to reject RFK Jr for health secretary
Elon Musk admits DOGE won’t find $2 trillion worth of cuts in federal budget
10:15 , Joe Sommerlad
The world’s richest man, who is set to co-lead Trump’s new advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has admitted the agency likely won’t make the $2 trillion in federal budget cuts he originally promised, which feels like a fairly major admission.
Katie Hawkinson has this report.
Musk admits DOGE wont find $2 trillion worth of cuts in federal budget
Special counsel’s report on Trump January 6 investigation can be released, appeals court rules
09:55 , Joe Sommerlad
A US federal appeals court has denied a bid to block the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals turned down an emergency challenge on Thursday aimed at keeping under wraps a report expected to detail unflattering revelations about the president-elect’s failed effort to cling to power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
A separate volume of the same special counsel report – related to Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate – will not become public while the case against two co-defendants of the president-elect, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, remains pending, the Justice Department has said.
Even with the appeals court ruling, however, the election interference report will not immediately be released and there’s no guarantee it will be as more legal wrangling is expected.
A lower court ruling from Trump-appointed US District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida temporarily blocking the Justice Department from releasing the report remains in place for three days.
The defendants may now ask Cannon to rule on the merits of their request to block the report, which she did not do earlier when she granted their emergency motion.
They could also conceivably ask the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to intervene.
A Trump spokesperson called Smith’s report an “unconstitutional, one-sided, falsehood-ridden screed”.
“It is time for Joe Biden and Merrick Garland to do the right thing and put a final stop to the political weaponization of our justice system,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
The two-volume report is expected to detail findings and explain charging decisions in Smith’s two investigations.
His team abandoned both cases in November after Trump’s presidential election victory, citing Justice Department policy that prohibits the federal prosecutions of sitting presidents.
Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith (Reuters)
Trump promises Vladimir Putin meeting: ‘We are setting it up’
09:35 , Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect said yesterday a meeting is being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but typically offered no precise timeline for talks between the two leaders.
“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors following his return to Mar-a-Lago after Jimmy Carter’s funeral in DC.
“President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.”
Trump’s return to the White House on January 20 has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow’s invasion, which began in February 2022, but it has also led to fears in Kyiv that a quick peace deal could come at a high price for Ukraine.
At the same press conference, Trump called his sentencing today a “disgrace”, reiterated his desire to incorporate Canada and Greenland into the United States and reflected on his newfound “friendship” with Barack Obama.
Trump: “The people of Greenland would love to become a state of the United States of America. Now, Denmark maybe doesn’t like it. But then we can’t be too happy with Denmark and maybe things have to happen with respect to Denmark having to do with tariffs.” pic.twitter.com/iKwNKxn4MA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2025
Trump on his interaction today with Obama: “It did look very friendly, I must say … I said, ‘boy, they look like two people like that each other.’ And we probably do.” pic.twitter.com/o21WNXwdf3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2025