Welcome to The Vaultz News’ live coverage of the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Joe Biden arrives on stage
The president-elect walks out to applause, joined by his wife and soon-to-be first lady Jill Biden.
The inauguration ceremony will be getting under way shortly.
Mr Biden shares a fist bump with Barack Obama, whom he served as vice president for eight years, before he moves towards his seat.
President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris arrive at US Capitol
President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have arrived at the US Capitol for the inauguration.
Biden, a senator and former vice president, is set to become the 46th president of the United States when Trump’s term ends at 17:00 GMT.
Former presidents arrive at the Capitol
Former US presidents have begun to arrive at the US Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Former President Bill Clinton former and Former President Barack Obama had arrived around 15:00 GMT. Former President George W Bush will also attend the pared down event.
Obama tweeted his congratulations to Biden, his former vice president.
Mexico calls on Biden to fix immigration status of Mexican nationals
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has urged the incoming administration of President-Elect Biden to take steps to settle the immigration status of Mexicans working in the US.
“We have been proposing that our countrymen who have been working for years should be regularised, contributing to the development of that great nation,” President Obrador told reporters in his regular daily news conference.
The Mexican president said such a move should complement plans to support poor Central American nations and southern Mexico, areas which send many migrants to the United States.
Biden attends church with Congress leaders
President-elect Biden attended church at St Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC accompanied by Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress in a symbol of unity ahead of his inauguration.
The future 46th President of the United States was also accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and House leader Kevin McCarthy.
Donald Trump leaves White House for the final time in presidential term
Donald Trump has left the White House for the final time in his presidential term insisting, “We will be back in some form.”
The outgoing president is heading to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as he boycotts Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony in Washington DC.
Before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Mr Trump told supporters it had been “an incredible” four years and thanked his family, as his daughter Tiffany watched on, shedding some tears.
He said “we left it all on the field”, adding that “it has been my greatest honour and privilege to have been your president.”
He also wished the new administration “great luck and great success” – but said: “We will be back in some form.”
Earlier as he walked out of the White House, Mr Trump said, “I just want to say goodbye but hopefully it’s not a long term goodbye. We’ll see each other again.”
The helicopter took him to Joint Base Andrews where Air Force One was waiting to take him to Florida.
His send-off was complete with a red carpet up to the steps of the plane, a military band and even a 21-gun salute.
British PM says he’s looking forward to working with Biden
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he looked forward to working with Joe Biden on their “shared priorities”, just hours before Biden is inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.
“As I said when I spoke with him on his election as President, I look forward to working with him, and with his new administration, strengthening the partnership between our countries and working on our shared priorities: from tackling climate change, building back better from the pandemic and strengthening our Transatlantic security,” Johnson said in parliament.
Russia says better ties with US up to Biden
The Kremlin has intimated that any improvement in Moscow’s tense relationship with Washington would depend on Joe Biden when he enters the White House.
The United States recently blamed Kremlin-backed hackers for a massive cyberattack that breached government institutions, adding to a long list of grievances plaguing ties between the former Cold War rivals.
“Russia will live as it has lived for hundreds of years: seeking good relations with the United States,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Whether or not Washington works towards achieving the same goal “will depend on Mr Biden and his team,” Peskov added.
German president ‘greatly relieved’ at US change of power
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has expressed relief that Joe Biden is replacing Donald Trump as US president, calling it a “good day for democracy”.
“I am greatly relieved that Joe Biden will be inaugurated as president today and move into the White House,” the head of state said. “I know this feeling is shared by many people in Germany.”
EU hails Biden’s ‘new dawn’ but wants tough tech rules
The European Union has hailed Joe Biden’s inauguration later as a “new dawn” for Europe and the United States – while insisting US technology companies should be regulated to stop the “dark forces” of hate speech online.
The EU and the United States are the world’s top trading powers, along with China, and have close cultural, historical, business and defence ties, but Donald Trump sought to sideline the EU, championing Britain’s departure from the bloc.
“This new dawn in America is the moment we’ve been waiting for,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
But she also cautioned: “This sense of relief… should not lead us to making any illusions. Trump may be consigned to history in a few hours, but his followers remain.”
While it might not be possible “to completely eliminate any of these dark forces” of the kind of incitement that led to the storming of the US Capital on 6 January, hate speech and fake news must not be allowed to circulate freely on the internet, she said.
“This political power, unbridled power held by the big internet giants must be reined in,” she said.
EU lawmakers are debating new digital policy that would have implications for Google, Facebook and Apple, but without major technology companies of its own, the EU’s digital privacy and antitrust regulation can only go so far.
Vice President Mike Pence says farewell in a tweet
US Vice President Mike Pence has in a tweet thanked Americans “for the privilege” to serve in the position for the past four years.
Mr Pence will attend President-elect Biden’s inauguration in place of Donald Trump, who is expected to leave the White House for Florida
Trump pardons over 140 pardons in his final hours in office
The White House has issued a statement with a list of names of 73 pardoned individuals and 70 others whose sentences have been commuted.
As part of the pardons and commutations, the President granted clemency to former White House aide Steve Bannon, who was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president’s wall on the US-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty.
The President also pardoned Elliott Broidy, a former top Republican fundraiser who pleaded guilty last year to violating foreign lobbying laws, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was serving a 28-year prison term on corruption charges.
Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black who were prosecuted on federal weapons offenses, were also granted pardons.
The pardon power, which comes from the US Constitution, is one of the broadest available to a president.
While pardons are typically given to people who have been prosecuted, pardons can cover conduct that has not yet resulted in legal proceedings.
A pardon is not reviewable by other branches of government and the president does not have to give a reason for issuing one. But the pardon power is not absolute; it only applies to federal crimes.
President Trump did not pardon himself, members of his family or lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was at the forefront of unsuccessful efforts to get the results of the 2020 presidential election overturned.
Biden marks nation’s COVID grief before inauguration pomp
President-elect Joe Biden stopped at Lincoln Memorial to mark the national tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic with a moment of collective grief for Americans lost hours before the inauguration.
“To heal we must remember,” the incoming president told the nation.
Four hundred lights representing the pandemic’s victims were illuminated behind him around the monument’s Reflecting Pool.
‘Our movement is only just beginning’- Trump’s farewell address
US President Donald Trump has released a farewell video, publicizing what he described as the success of his “America First” platform and telling his supporters that “the movement we started is only just beginning”.
