Donald Trump’s final act: get out of jail free

True to form, Donald Trump kept people guessing in his last hours at the White House. And then the news came: he had granted 73 pardons.

Outgoing US President Donald Trump waves as he boards Marine One at the White House in Washington on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

True to form, Donald Trump kept people guessing as he counted down his remaining hours at the White House.

And then the news came: he had granted 73 pardons, including to former senior aide Steve Bannon, and commuted the sentences of an additional 70.

Close legal sidekick Rudy ­Giuliani and Mr Trump’s children weren’t on the list he released less than 12 hours before the inauguration. But there was still time for another last-minute trademark ‘‘gotcha’’.

The 45th US president had ­reportedly made his late decision after speaking to Mr Bannon by phone. Mr Bannon had been charged with defrauding people over funds raised to build the Mexico border wall, a flagship Trump policy.

He was Trump’s campaign manager during the 2016 election, before becoming a senior adviser.

Former Trump fundraiser ­Elliott Broidy was similarly pardoned, after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws.

“Mr Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen,” a White House statement said.

Rapper Lil Wayne, who last month pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, also made the list, which included Trump allies, many of whom have been swept up in corruption or lying charges.

Only hours earlier, Joe Biden farewelled his home state of ­Delaware, flying on to be sworn in as America’s 46th president.

After taking the oath of office amid an unprecedented military-style security lockdown in Washington, the 78-year-old inherits a nation seething with political tensions after the deadly Capitol riots earlier this month.

Mr Biden was expected to call for unity and healing in an inauguration speech delivered for the first time without any crowds on Washington’s National Mall ­because of the rampant coronavirus pandemic.

He will move quickly to start the unwinding of the Trump era by signing a blizzard of new orders on climate change, immigration, welfare and the pandemic in his first days as President.

Mr Trump, still angry about losing an election he claims was fraudulently stolen from him, did not host the traditional morning tea for the incoming President at the White House nor attend the inauguration, the first time since 1869 that a president delivered such a snub.

Instead Mr Trump was due to hold a ceremonial farewell on Thursday AEDT at Andrews air force base before flying with his wife Melania and son Barron to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to begin his post-presidential life.

In a 20-minute farewell address to the nation via video, Mr Trump listed his achievements and wished the Biden administration luck but he did not mention Mr Biden by name.

“To serve as your President has been an honour beyond description,” he said. “Thank you for this enormous privilege.

“I did not seek the easiest course; by far it was actually the most difficult. I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices, because that’s what you elected me to do.”

Mr Trump, who has been impeached for inciting the violence at the Capitol two weeks ago, condemned that assault in his speech, saying political violence “can never be tolerated”.

His final message to Americans was that his political movement would continue to grow.

“As I prepare to hand power over to a new administration, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning, there’s never been anything like it,” he said.

On the eve of the inauguration, Mr Biden and his wife Jill and incoming Vice-President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug ­Emhoff, spoke at a moving memorial service for the more than 400,000 Americans who had died from the coronavirus.

“To heal, we must remember,” Mr Biden said at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“It’s important to do that as a nation. That’s why we’re here today. Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights in the darkness along this sacred pool of reflection and remember all that we’ve lost.”

Mr Biden had given a tearful farewell speech at his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, before leaving for Washington. He choked up as he spoke of his late son Beau who died of brain cancer in 2015, saying: “I have only one ­regret: that he is not here because we should be introducing him as president.”

Because of the coronavirus ­restrictions the inauguration was a made-for-TV event with performances by Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks and a virtual inauguration parade.

Washington remained under virtual armed lockdown ahead of the inauguration, although the capital had not seen the arrival of large numbers of pro-Trump protesters as had been feared.

About 25,000 National Guard troops all but closed off the city, prohibiting any members of the public from getting near the inauguration at the Capitol.

Background checks on all National Guard troops led to 12 of them being removed from security at the inauguration for extremist messages or ties to right-wing groups, including two who had made extremist statements about the inauguration.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell launched a stinging attack on Mr Trump on his last day as President, blaming him for lying to his supporters and provoking them ahead of the Capitol riots.

“The mob was fed lies,” Senator McConnell told the Senate. “They were provoked by the President and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.’’

But we pressed on, we stood together and said an angry mob would not get veto power over the rule of law in our nation.”

Senator McConnell’s comments are his strongest criticism yet of the former president with whom he was once a close ally. They have fuelled speculation that he may vote to convict Mr Trump at his forthcoming Senate impeachment trial.

Democrats believe that if Senator McConnell abandons Mr Trump, it may lead other Republicans to vote to convict Mr Trump. Democrats need 17 Republican Senators to side with them in order to make Mr Trump the first President to be convicted by a Senate trial.