Sweeping change at the stroke of a Sharpie

DONALD Trump began his first full day back at the White House with 1,500 pardons for the January 6 rioters among a blizzard of orders.

- Christopher Bucktin US Editor, in Washington DC

He continued to scribble his Sharpie signature on dozens of executive rulings after being sworn in as the 47th US president on Tuesday.

One of the most controversial moves is to unconditionally pardon the insurrectionists who descended on Washington in 2021 after he was beaten by Joe Biden.

The sweeping measure was criticised across political divides yesterday after Trump made no distinction between those who peacefully entered the Capitol and those who violently attacked law enforcement.

Describing the former prisoners as "hostages", those freed included Enrique Tarrio, the extremist Proud Boys leader serving 22 years for seditious conspiracy, and Julian Khater, who assaulted police officer Brian Sicknick with pepper spray.