Trump inauguration LIVE updates: Executive orders, January 6 pardons planned by Trump on first day of presidency

Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he hopes to raise AUKUS and trade with incoming president Donald Trump when they have their first meeting.

Speaking on ABC Sydney, Albanese referred to a previous conversation he had with Trump when the president-elect won the November election.

“Well, the two issues which we discussed when we had our conversation where I congratulated him, the first was AUKUS and its importance. And we’ve seen that recognised by senior people in the incoming administration already,” Albanese said.

“And secondly, the issue of trade and how our economic relationship is so important for Australia, but also important for the United States.

“The incoming president, of course, has made comments about the United States and their interests. It’s important for us to point out that the US has had a trade surplus with Australia since the Truman presidency. And importantly as well that the US is, of course, the major investor here in Australia.”

In Washington to attend the inauguration, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Australian government was looking forward to working with the new Trump administration to advance their shared interests.

Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, also recently met the president-elect at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Rudd’s future was thrown into doubt last year when Trump learnt of past comments the former prime minister had made about the Republican, in which he described Trump as a “traitor to the West” and the “most destructive president in history”.

When presented with the comments during an interview with former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on Britain’s right-leaning GB News in March, Trump said, “I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb. He won’t be there long if that’s the case.”

The meeting at Trump’s international golf course in Florida was the first time the pair have had direct contact with each other.

Asked by this masthead how it went, and whether Wong was confident of a good working relationship, she replied: “I think the meeting was a short discussion. Obviously, it went well, as can be seen by the fact that this invitation has been extended.

“I think [the working relationship] is demonstrated, isn’t it? We’ve seen the AUKUS legislation shepherded through, we’ve seen this visit organised, we’ve seen the invitation to the inauguration for both me and also ambassador Rudd. I think that speaks for itself.”

Trump just gave a shout-out to his somewhat unorthodox cabinet nominees, including former Fox presenter Pete Hegseth (Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon); World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon (nominated as education secretary); vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jnr (health secretary) and former Democrat congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence).

Also in the audience tonight are Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight who, along with Mel Gibson have been tapped to be special envoys to Hollywood. He also noted his nomination for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, whom Foreign Minister Penny Wong is meeting tomorrow.

Rubio last week gave the strongest indication yet that the new US administration will continue to back the AUKUS submarine pact, describing it as a blueprint for other partnerships to take on China.

“It’s one example of how we can leverage the power of these partnerships with allies … to reach outcomes and objectives, such as creating a geopolitical and strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” he told a Senate confirmation hearing.

Trump has indicated he will tomorrow pardon large numbers of people convicted of crimes relating to the January 6, 2021, march on the US Capitol protesting against the results of the 2020 election.

“Tomorrow, everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages. I think you’ll be very, very happy. I would say about 99.9 per cent in this beautiful arena,” Trump said at his rally.

Earlier, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who helped run the Trump campaign, posted on TruthSocial that Trump “will be signing a massive ‘slate’ of J6 pardons immediately after being sworn in tomorrow”.

“The pardons have already been drafted,” Kirk said.

More than 1000 people have been convicted in relation to the January 6 riots, though far fewer are serving prison sentences.

Trump will kickstart his second presidency with a blizzard of executive orders. More than 100 are expected to be signed on day one of entering the White House, allowing the new president to effectively bypass Congress to deliver on some of his priorities.

Among the orders will be measures to tighten border security, ramp up US energy production, ban transgender women in female sports and reel in regulations. He will also order the military to start work on an “iron dome” over the US and get rid of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs.

“Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed when I take the oath of office. Oh, you’re gonna have a lot of fun watching television tomorrow. Somebody said yesterday, ’Sir, don’t sign so many in one day. Let’s do it over weeks.

“Like hell we’re going to do it over weeks. We’re going to sign them immediately,” Trump told the crowd.

“The American people have given us their trust and in return, we are going to give them the best first day, the best first week, and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history.”

Trump has invited billionaire Space X and Tesla boss Elon Musk on stage at his victory rally in Washington.“Come here, Elon!” Trump beckoned from behind the podium.

“Did you see his rocket yesterday?” Musk, in a suit and tie, spoke for only moments and much more modestly than during a previous rally appearance in New York before the election.

He is set to help run a government department tasked with reducing red tape.

Trump goes on to talk about watching Space X’s rocket launches, and the mechanical arms that can catch the rocket’s booster – a scientific marvel that fascinates the president-elect and which he spoke about at length on election night.

“China can’t do it, Russia can’t do it, or come close. And the US can’t do it except for him [Musk],” Trump says.

Trump is now talking about illegal immigrants in America and his plan to embark on the biggest deportation program in US history.

But there are fundamental questions about how, exactly, the US could possibly carry out the largest law enforcement operation in history – and at what cost.

After all, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in America: foreign-born people without a valid visa or other immigration documentation because they entered the US illegally, stayed longer than their temporary visa permitted, or otherwise violated the terms under which they were admitted.

As for the financial cost? While Trump has said that “there is no price tag” for his signature policy, an analysis by the American Immigration Council suggests a one-time mass deportation program would have a “devastating” bill of at least $US315 billion ($474 billion).

Donald Trump is underlining the scope of his election victory with a laundry list of achievements – the swing towards him in every state and among pretty much every demographic.

And of course, he won the popular vote, something he didn’t achieve in 2016. As well, Trump won the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“We not only won a mandate but we built a new American majority,” he says.

He has a moment of faux modesty when he says he doesn’t want to speak of “the Trump effect” because “it’s too braggadocious”.

But he goes on to say: “The stockmarket has surged. Small business optimism has surged. Bitcoin has shattered one record high after another.”

Now he’s talking about saving TikTok and the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which he claims would not have been possible if he had not won.

Read more about the TikTok ban saga here.