Joe Biden dismisses Donald Trump move to lift Europe travel restrictions

Donald Trump lifted the ban on travellers from Europe and Brazil today, only to see Joe Biden immediately reject it.

US President-elect Joe Biden has quickly dismissed Donald Trump’s announcement that the COVID-19 travel ban on arrivals from Europe and Brazil would be lifted.

Mr Trump said he would lift a ban on travellers, effective from January 26, after the US recently announced all incoming air passengers will need a negative COVID-19 test before departure.

Mr Biden’s press secretary, however said the incoming administration would not lift the restrictions, underscoring the fractious transition of power in the US.

“On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26,” tweeted Mr Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki.

“In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) January 19, 2021

With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel.

— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) January 19, 2021

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last Tuesday that all air passengers bound for the US were required to test negative for COVID-19 within three days of their departure.

The test policy will also take effect on January 26, and will expand on a previous testing rule that targeted Britain and came into effect in December, following the emergence of a coronavirus variant believed to be more transmissible.

Some epidemiologists have warned it is likely that new, more transmissible variants are already establishing themselves in the United States, the hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump is reportedly preparing a final video address. It is not clear when the address will be released.

Melania: pick love, unity over hate

First Lady Melania Trump has called on Americans to “rise above what divides us,” in a videoed farewell address as she prepares to leave the White House.

In the six minute address, released on her Twitter feed, Mrs Trump says serving as First Lady was “the greatest honour of my life.”

After a week dominated by her husband’s second impeachment for inciting insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, she asks viewers “To always choose love over hatred, peace over violence, and others before yourself”.

A Farewell Message from First Lady Melania Trump pic.twitter.com/WfG1zg2mt4

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) January 18, 2021

Mrs Trump leaves her role with her lowest popularity rating of the last four years. A CNN poll found her favourability rating was 47 per cent; a Gallup poll found Mr Trump’s popularity had plummeted to 37 per cent in the wake of the Capitol riots.

The timing of the President’s impeachment is still up in the air, with Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi refusing to say when she will deliver to the Senate the article of impeachment charging Mr Trump with “incitement of terrorism.”

Once the House Speaker sends the article to the Senate, the chamber must immediately move to begin the trial.

Mr Trump has not yet gathered a legal team, with a number of lawyers saying they would not defend him. But his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani apparently will not be on his defence team, telling reporters he couldn’t represent Mr Trump because he was a witness in the case, having appeared with Mr Trump at his “Save America” rally in which the former New York mayor called for “trial by combat.”

The president’s allies had urged him not to tap Mr Giuliani “There is a general sense of, if you want to be removed, have Rudy on the Senate floor,” one of the people said

The trial isn’t expected to take place before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 21 (AEDT) and the House may wait even longer so as not to overshadow the early weeks of Mr Biden’s presidency.

Amid continuing fears of violence in the lead up to the inauguration, a rehearsal on the west front of the Capitol on Monday was halted and participants evacuated after a fire broke out at a nearby location, underscoring how the heavily guarded city remains on edge.

The evacuation came as US Capitol Police sent out a message about an “external security threat” a few blocks south of the building.

In a statement, Capitol Police said Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman ordered a shutdown of the Capitol Complex “in an abundance of caution.” The statement added: “There are currently no fires on or within the Capitol campus,” the statement said.

Washington has become increasingly fortified with thousands of armed troops – more than in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan combined – as well as police officers and miles of barricade fencing. Although some of the traditional inaugural events will be virtual this year, President-elect Biden is expected to be sworn in outside the Capitol.

On his last few days in office, Mr Trump is expected to issue as many as 100 pardons and commutation.

In recent months, the president had discussed the prospect of pardoning himself, other members of his family — including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and daughter Ivanka Trump — as well as Mr Giuliani. But he has been leaning away from those pardons in recent days as advisers have counselled him that they would be unnecessary, and would imply guilt.

Members of the Trump family aren’t currently under investigation, but Mr. Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine have been a focus for Manhattan federal prosecutors. Mr. Trump’s legal authority to pardon himself is dubious; a 1974 legal memorandum said the president can’t pardon himself, but some legal scholars disagree and the matter has never been tested in court.

Among those hoping for a pardon is Tiger King Joe Exotic, whose legal representative says he has a car waiting outside the prison to take him home.

"Joe Exotic" Maldonado-Passage with one of his tigers. Picture: AFP.

Eric Love, who has led Joe’s campaign, said: “This time tomorrow, we’re going to be celebrating. We have good reason to believe it will come through. I’ve got make-up, wardrobe, the whole unit that will come up. The first thing Joe wants to do, he wants his hair done. He hasn’t had his hair done in Two-and-a-half years. That’s the first order of business. Then we’ll probably go and get some pizzas, steak, maybe a McRib.”

Joe is currently serving a 22-year sentence for plotting a murder-for-hire against rival Carole Baskin.

Some allies of the president have argued he shouldn’t risk angering any more Republican senators with controversial pardons ahead of his Senate impeachment trial, the Wall St Journal reports. Democrats will have a hard time persuading 17 Republicans to join them in voting to convict Mr Trump, but the president has grown increasingly worried about possible defections after 10 Republicans — a historic number — voted to impeach him in the House last week.

Since the 2020 election, Mr Trump has issued dozens of pardons, including for his 2016 campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and longtime political adviser Roger Stone, as well as Charles Kushner, his son-in-law’s father.

With Dow Jones, AFP