Trump news: Romney attacks former president as children get secret service protection

Donald Trump’s former vp ditched the ex-president’s farewell to attend in inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

By the looks of it, Harris was happy to see her counterpart as the ex- and current vice presidents shared this moment during the transfer of power.

Conservative Congresswoman Lauren Boebert posted a selfie from Donald Trump's final speech, apparently foregoing - or lacking an invitation to - the inauguration of Joe Biden.  

"Today. Thank you, Mr President," Ms Boebert wrote with a heart emoji. Mr Trump can be seen in the background addressing the small crowd that turned out for his farewell.  

Most notable Republican lawmakers chose to attend Mr Biden's inauguration rather than Mr Trump's farewell.  

Vice President Mike Pence skipped Mr Trump's speech, as did Sen. Lindsey Graham, who Mr Biden once called a "personal disappointment."

Graig Graziosi reports.

Following news that Donald Trump left letters for Joe Biden, his former spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany also revealed some White House norms remain.

The last official act of the Trump dynasty was marked by Melania Trump, who stepped on Air Force one in “First Lady black” only to emerge in “Florida lady of leisure orange”.

In the air, Donald Trump Jr posed with Kimberly Guilfoyle, while Eric Trump posted his farewell message that led with gushing praise of his dad: “He made it cool to be an American. He didn’t put up with BS and he didn’t mince words.”

China announced sanctions on 28 US persons, including now-former Secretary of State Mike Pompe, minutes after President Joe Biden was sworn into office on the steps of the Capitol.  

China claimed that the people sanctioned, which include other Trump administration officials, had violated Chinese sovereignty, Bloomberg reported.

The sanctions prevent the individuals and their families from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. It also stops the sanctioned and any entities that they are associated with from doing any business with China. 

Gustaf Kilander has more on this breaking news.

Melania Trump is ready for her post-White House life. And it looks like she’s never been more excited.

First lady Melania Trump has departed the White House for the final time, boarding Marine One with her husband Donald Trump shortly after 815am.

Dressed head-to-toe in black with her trademark sunglasses, Ms Trump crossed the South Lawn with the president boarding the waiting helicopter, saying goodbye to life in the executive mansion.

A lower-level East Wing staffer was reportedly tasked with writing the 80 or so typed notes thanking staff “in her voice” for the first lady to sign, according to CNN.

The Washington Post’s Fact Checker’s database has finished the four-year count of Donald Trump’s claims.

At a tickle over 30,000, the tally would average something around 20 per day over the course of a four year presidency.

Trump’s most-repeated claim was made 493 times:

“We also built the greatest economy in the history of the world…Powered by these policies, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world.”

According to the WaPo’s fact checkers, Dwight D Eisenhower, Lyndon B Johnson and Bill Clinton had stronger economic growth “by just about any key measure in the modern era”.

Nick Pickles, the firm's global head of public policy strategy and development, said it is impossible for any of the tech giants not to look at the events of January 6, which resulted in five deaths, and ask whether they played a part in it.

Mr Pickles said Twitter should have taken a more aggressive approach against conspiracy theories such as QAnon, which claims Donald Trump is fighting a secret war against "deep-state enemies" and a cabal of child sex traffickers, instead of de-amplifying it.

“This year we changed our approach and aggressively removed 70,000 accounts related to that. Now, I think if we were to reflect on our actions should we have taken more aggressive enforcement action earlier? I think we have to say yes,” he said.

Adam Smith reports.

While the plan to auction off the big red button to blow up the vacant Trump Plaza casino was cancelled, the people of Atlantic City aren’t ones to let a good spectacle go to waste.

Joe Bodnar, owner of Bodnar’s Auction, told Politico he was planning to hold an auction for a “viewing party” after the owner of the building objected to selling off rights to hit the demolition button.

“We have another auction that looks like it’s going to take place and that should materialize later today or tomorrow, but it looks like we’re going to be selling a viewing party,” Bodnar told the outlet. “You get to come and be a guest of the city and watch the implosion as close as you can.”

The original auction reached $175,000 but was scrapped after owner, Trump-ally Carl Icahn, objected over safety concerns on Monday. Icahn will reportedly donate $175,000 of his own money to Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City in its place.