Trump’s awkward encounter with ‘Newscum’ as he visits fire-ravaged Los Angeles

“We’re going to waive, just about essentially waive, all federal permits” to hasten rebuilding, Trump said.

As he was visiting California, Trump had his choice of defence secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed by the Senate, despite questions about the former Fox News host’s qualifications to lead the Pentagon amid allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behaviour toward women.

Vice President J.D Vance was forced to cast a tie-breaking vote, unusual in the Senate for Cabinet nominees, after three Republicans, including influential former leader Mitch McConnell, voted against the appointment.

Vance had earlier addressed tens of thousands of anti-abortion protesters who attended the annual “March for Life”, where he pledged more “pro-life” action under the new administration.

In his first public event in office, Vance told the crowd that with Trump back in the White House, “our country faces the return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes”.

He promised support for a law mandating medical care for babies born alive after failed abortions, which has passed the House of Representatives despite Democrats labelling it redundant, and hinted at expanding tax credits to encourage Americans to have more children.

The benchmark for national success was not the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) or the stockmarket, Vance said, but “whether people feel that they can raise thriving and healthy families”. He also condemned what he called a “culture of radical individualism” in which the joys of family were “seen as obstacles to overcome” rather than blessings.

Trump sent a video message to the rally in which he repeated a false claim that Democrats were seeking unfettered access to abortion until and after birth.

It followed his decision less than 24 hours earlier to pardon 23 anti-abortion activists who violated a 1990s law prohibiting people from blockading abortion clinics. They included Lauren Handy and nine others convicted over the 2020 blockade of a clinic in Washington, who pushed their way inside the waiting room and linked themselves with chains. Police found five fetuses in Handy’s home after she was indicted.

Trump said it was an honour to sign the pardons, calling them peaceful protesters. “It was disgraceful what happened to them. That was a persecution.”

Following the 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn abortion rights nationally, then-vice president and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris sought to make it a major issue of the 2024 election campaign, hoping it would motivate women in particular to vote.

Trump – who took credit for that decision after appointing three conservative justices – tried to minimise the issue during the campaign given polls show more than 60 per cent of Americans support access to abortion.

At the National Mall, however, the vocal anti-abortion or “pro-life” movement was out in force, with organisers estimating up to 150,000 would march. Dozens of large groups from churches, colleges and activist groups around the country attended, clad in coloured beanies and carrying signs.

They included Molly Dardis and Laurie Traglia from Our Lady of the Rosary, a Catholic school in Greenville, South Carolina, who credited Trump for boosting the pro-life movement but said there was more to do. South Carolina has a so-called “heartbeat law” which effectively allows abortions up to six weeks from conception.

“It should be banned. There should be no abortions,” said Traglia. “We believe life starts at conception,” Dardis added.

However they disagreed with criminal penalties for women who terminated their pregnancy. “I don’t think women should be punished. What needs to be offered to women is support, services, resources and love,” Dardis said.

Cole Buckley, 19, from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, was among the thousands of pro-life students to attend the rally – though he acknowledged being in a minority on campus. “Our club is about 20 people and our school is about 5000,” he said.

Members of a neo-fascist, white supremacist group called Patriot Front also appeared near the rally. They stood beside the Washington monument clad in uniforms, masks, and sunglasses, bearing US flags and a banner that read: “Strong families make strong nations.”

With AP

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