President Donald Trump sought to maintain his inaugural momentum on his second day in office, defending the pardons for Capitol Hill riot defendants, planning a purge of DEI programmes and announcing an artificial intelligence infrastructure deal.

On Tuesday, Trump also threatened economic actions against Russia and China as his choice for top US diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, arrived at the State Department for his first day on the job.

He also met congressional Republicans at the White House before appearing with tech CEOs to announce a joint venture with OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to invest billions in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

As Trump’s team settles in, other officials who worked under the Biden administration are expected to continue leaving in droves.

At his first news conference of the new administration, Trump discussed his decision to release defendants in the 6 January 2021 riot at the Capitol, when his supporters sought to block Joe Biden from taking the White House.

The more than 1,500 people he pardoned on Monday “spent years in jail” while “murderers don’t even go to jail in this country,” Trump said.

He also told reporters that he is considering imposing a 10% tariff on imports of Chinese-made goods as soon as February.

China is sending fentanyl – an opioid fuelling drug crises around the world – to the US, via Mexico and Canada, he explained.

His announcement followed threats to levy import taxes of 25% on Mexico and Canada, accusing them of allowing undocumented migrants and drugs into America.

Trump is considering issuing further sanctions against Russia, he said, if President Vladimir Putin refuses to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Trump said that during a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he pressed China to do more to intervene to stop the war.

“He’s not done very much on that… I said, ‘You ought to get it settled.’ We did discuss it,” he said.

At an inaugural prayer service earlier in the day, the Episcopal bishop of Washington DC looked at him during her sermon and appealed to him to “have mercy” for immigrants, and gay and transgender youth.

Trump later told reporters that he “didn’t think it was a good service” and that they “could do much better”.

At Trump’s first gathering with Republican leaders at the White House, the group discussed legislative strategy and possibly using recess appointments to confirm Cabinet nominees who are unable to get through the normal Senate confirmation process.

On the subject of immigration, the sweeping raids and deportations Trump vowed would begin the first day of his presidency have yet to ramp up, however the administration has changed several rules designed to limit the flow of migration.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that it was rescinding a rule preventing immigration agents from conducting raids at “sensitive locations”, including schools, churches and hospitals.

Four top officials at the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees US immigration courts, were among those laid off on Tuesday as the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, all federal employees serving in roles related to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), will be placed on paid leave on Wednesday, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

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A memo obtained through BBC’s news partner CBS on Tuesday included a template email to affected employees, saying that the DEI programs “divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination”.

As some of Trump’s high-profile pardons are released from prison, he also issued a new pardon for another well known supporter.

Ross Ulbricht, who operated Silk Road, the deep web marketplace where illegal drugs were sold, and was active in the Libertarian movement, received a full and unconditional pardon.

“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 in New York in a narcotics and money laundering conspiracy, and sentenced to life in prison.