President Trump returned to Twitter yesterday after a short ban.

But he posted something quite different in tone to his normal tweets: a conciliatory video pledging a peaceful transfer of power, external and condemning the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

Now he's offered a tweet more in line with his usual style, defending his voters and saying "they will not be disprespected or treated unfairly".

It's his first post on any social media account since he released the video.

While he appeared to accept a vote total close to his actual tally in the November election (74.2m), he is yet to address the death of a police officer at the Capitol riot.

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have suspended Trump from their platforms until after the inauguration of Joe Biden on 20 January, but Twitter lifted its suspension of the president's account on Thursday.

Image source, Reuters

Democratic Congressman James Clyburn has said that impeachment proceedings could go ahead soon if Vice-President Mike Pence and the cabinet do not remove Donald Trump from office via the 25th Amendment.

Speaking on CNN, he said: “I believe in the next six to seven days we can impeach but not remove.”

The reason he said that is because while the Democrats can impeach Trump in the House of Representatives when things move to the Senate they get more complicated for the Democrats in two key ways:

• There's not much time to hold a Senate trial before he leaves office anyway
• It will be difficult for them to muster the two-thirds vote required to actually remove him from the presidency

However there are signs that some Republicans could support the move.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said earlier he would consider articles of impeachment because Trump had "disregarded his oath of office".

The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal has called on President Trump to resign to avoid a possible second impeachment by the House of Representatives.

The unsigned text in the paper's editorial page,, external considered to hold the views of the Republican establishment, condemned the president's actions, which it said "incited" the crowds on Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

The editorial pages of the paper, owned by Rupert Murdoch, have criticised the Republican president in the past but this is the strongest rebuttal against Trump yet.

Observers suggest Murdoch is looking ahead to life under the Biden administration. Some of his outlets began to turn on Trump in the aftermath of the November election. The magnate's conglomerate also owns the Fox News Channel, an outlet that was home to some of Trump's most loyal defenders but which has angered him in recent months.

The pace of events in the last few days has been extremely busy.

Here's where things stand right now, two days after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC in a bid to overturn Joe Biden's election win:

• Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark says if Vice-President Mike Pence and other cabinet members do not remove Donald Trump from office, then impeachment proceedings will start next week. Democrats in the House of Representatives are due to hold a conference call to discuss this at noon today (17:00 GMT)
• Pence is being urged to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution which allows the vice-president to step up if the president is deemed unable to perform his duties
• The US justice department has not ruled out charging the president with criminal liability following the violence
• In a change of tone, President Trump has finally acknowledged that he will hand over power to Joe Biden and leave the White House on 20 January. In a statement, he said he would ensure a smooth transition
• A police officer who died from injuries incurred during the attack on the US Capitol has been named as Brian Sicknick. His death is the fifth connected to the riots

Kelly-Leigh Cooper
BBC News

With the US still reeling from Wednesday's violence in Washington, serious questions are being asked about how such a massive security breach was able to happen at the heart of US government.

President-elect Joe Biden has been scathing of the "unacceptable" handling of the rioters and compared it to the heavy-handed militarised response to last year's Black Lives Matter protests.

Lindsay Graham, a Republican senator, also railed against the security failures: "They could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all. They could've destroyed the government."

Criticism centres on preparation by police and their failure to anticipate possible violence, despite evidence that radical pro-Trump supporters and other groups were openly discussing their plans online.

Image source, EPA

The Washington Post, citing sources close to the matter, says that Capitol Police charged with guarding the building and its grounds did not make early requests for help from the city's main police force or the National Guard, external, nor set up a multi-agency command centre to co-ordinate the response to any violence.

And without an adequate security perimeter in place, their sparse police lines were quickly overwhelmed by thousands descending on the Capitol.

Read the full analysis here.

Democratic Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark has said a vote to impeach President Trump could be held as "early as by mid-next week."

"We do have a process we have to go through... but we have a president who incited a seditious mob to storm the Capitol. We now have five deaths from that and the harm to our democracy is really unfathomable," she told CNN.

The House Democratic Caucus is to hold a conference call at noon (17:00 GMT) on Friday, Reuters reported citing a Democratic aide.

If the president is impeached in the House, the process then moves to the Senate for a trial. As we reported earlier, to succeed in convicting and removing the president, Democrats would need a two-thirds majority in the Senate, and there is no indication they would get those numbers.

Also, it is not clear whether enough time remains to carry out the process. Trump is due to leave office on 20 January, when Joe Biden will be sworn in.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already indicated she could convene the House to launch their second impeachment proceedings against Trump if Vice-President Mike Pence does not invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to declare the president unfit for office.

Image source, Reuters

US federal investigators are examining everyone who might have played a role in the violence at the Capitol on Wednesday - and that includes considering possible charges against President Trump, the justice department has confirmed.

"We are looking at all actors, not only the people who went into the building," said acting US attorney Michael Sherwin, Washington's top federal prosecutor.

Trump egged on his supporters to "fight" the results just before the violence, and Democrats accuse him of having incited the deadly riot.

All this raises an intriguing question - could President Trump offer himself a pre-emptive pardon before he leaves office?

We know he has brought this up as far back as 2017, and the New York Times reports, external it has come up again since election day. And that was before both the Capitol riot and the emergence of an audio recording showing Trump pressured Georgia's top election offical to help him "find votes" to overturn Joe Biden's victory.

Both events have raised questions about Trump's legal culpability for possible crimes committed.

The legality of a self-pardon is untested. Some legal experts say it's not possible while others point out the consitution does not preclude such a move, even though it would be highly improper.

You can read more on this: Could the US president pardon himself?

Image source, Reuters

Some sharp words coming from the former US Attorney General William Barr, who was one of Donald Trump's staunchest allies.

"Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable," Barr said in a statement. “The president’s conduct [on Wednesday] was a betrayal of his office and supporters."

Barr stepped down last month as tensions with the president flared. He had said that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in November's vote - as claimed by Trump.

Barr was also criticised by the president for not publicly disclosing during the election campaign that the justice department was investigating Joe Biden's son.

Democratic critics of Barr have accused him of shielding his ex-boss from justice during his time as attorney general.

Image source, Reuters

Senator Josh Hawley has had his upcoming book cancelled by its publishers following Wednesday’s riot.

The Missouri Republican senator objected to Joe Biden’s presidential election win and called for an investigation into alleged voter fraud.

Publishers Simon & Schulster announced on Thursday, external that it was cancelling his upcoming book, The Tyranny of Big Tech.

"As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom,” the publishing house said in a statement.

Hawley described the cancellation as “Orwellian” and claimed it was a “direct assault on the First Amendment” in a statement on Twitter., external

Images of the mob of President Trump's supporters entering Congress were beamed around the world, inviting a chorus of condemnation from US allies and foes alike.

Photographs from the incident capture the drama, horror and importance of the moment.

Jim Lo Scalzo captured one supporter sitting in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's chair - a photo that went viral.

He spoke to the BBC about what he saw inside the Capitol, which he described as the culmination of "four years of Trump's American carnage".

Image source, Reuters

President Donald Trump has been allowed to tweet again after being locked out of his account for 12 hours.

Before his account was locked, he had posted several messages on Wednesday in which he called the people who stormed Capitol Hill “patriots”. He also reiterated false claims of voter fraud.

Trump has been warned by the social media site that he will be banned “permanently” if he breaches the platform’s rules again.

So far, he's playing it safe - only tweeting a video where he takes a more conciliatory tone, external and pledges to facilitate a peaceful transition of power.

Other social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and popular gaming platform Twitch have been stricter. Twitch has placed an indefinite ban on Mr Trump’s channel while Facebook has suspended the president from its site and Instagram for the next two weeks.

The total number of deaths connected to Wednesday's riot has reached five. Aside from the US Capitol police officer whose death we reported on earlier, the remaining four were Trump supporters attending the march.

Ashli Babbitt, 35, was part of the mob entering the legislature. A statement from Capitol Police said an employee fired their service weapon, striking her “as protesters were forcing their way toward the House Chamber where members of Congress were sheltering in place”.

Babbitt was admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound and died later that evening.

The US Air Force veteran described herself as a libertarian and a patriot on social media, where she posted frequently about President Trump.

"She had a personality that you either loved or hated," her ex-husband told NPR. "She wasn't apologetic about it... she was proud of it, just like she was proud of her country and proud to be an American."

Image source, Twitter.com/AshliBabbitt

Also among the dead was Benjamin Phillips, 50, who organised for a group of Pennsylvanians to travel together to Washington. A computer programmer, he set up a social media channel for Trump supporters.

One member of the group with him in Washington told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he had tried to call Phillips when it was time to leave but a police officer picked up and told him that Phillips had died., external

Kevin Greeson, 55, from Alabama died from a heart attack at the event, his family said. A staunch Trump supporter, he had been active on Parler, a self-styled "free speech" social media site popular with conservatives as an alternative to Twitter.

Greeson's family said he was "not there to participate in violence or rioting, nor did he condone such actions, external".

They called him a “wonderful father and husband who loved life”.

Police also confirmed the death of Rosanne Boyland, 34, from Georgia. A statement from her brother-in-law Justin Cave, external said the family were still trying to figure out the details of her death.

"As we watched these awful events unfold we hoped that Roseanne was not among the crowd. Tragically she was there and it cost her life," he said.

"I've never tried to be a political person but it's my own personal belief that the president's words incited a riot that killed four of his biggest fans last night," Mr Cave told a local CBS station., external

You can read more about them here.

Image source, Getty Images

Following Wednesday’s events in Washington, there is talk as to whether the 25th Amendment could be used to oust Trump from the presidency.

But what is the amendment and how would it work?

The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution allows the vice-president to become acting president when a president is unable to continue his duties - for example if he or she becomes incapacitated due to a physical or mental illness.

The part of the amendment being discussed is section four, which allows the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet to declare the president unable to perform his duties.

However for this to go through, they would need to sign a letter declaring so to the speakers of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Vice-President Mike Pence would automatically take over. Trump would then be given the opportunity to provide a written response. If he contested the finding, Congress would have to decide.

Any vote in the Senate and House of Representatives ordering the president’s removal requires a two-thirds majority.

We have more about the amendment here.

Suzanne Kianpour
BBC News, Virginia

Image source, EPA

In the staunchest of Republican counties in rural Virginia, a couple of men were getting into their trucks at a quintessentially American country store on the side of the road. Trump’s relationship with the media has been contentious throughout his presidency and his rallies have seen the crowds turning on the media - but, in my experience, his supporters have always been friendly.

Sonny, an elderly, smiling white man whose face was weathered with the lines of life, told me he wasn't happy with the violence that happened at the US Capitol. But he said he'd still vote Trump should he run in 2024.

Then he paused. He slowly said he actually believed the protesters had been infiltrated by anti-fascist group Antifa. And he's not alone in his thinking as other Trump supporters have told me they believe the same.

But former Washington DC police officer Jordan Colvin says it's unlikely. "The DC police actually have a robust intelligence unit that keeps tabs on anarchist groups. They're full time dedicated to assessing threats from every type of group and they work closely with federal agencies."

In the aftermath of the shocking chaos, the question of premeditation has come up - was the violence planned in advance? But Colvin says that's also unlikely, as permits were acquired.

She says it all came down to organisation online. "We’ve never seen social media utilised to this degree, that resulted in a riot and the death of a police officer."

When Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday they took out their cameras to record the chaos inside.

Our teams looked through hours of phone footage to paint a picture of what happened.

Police officer Brian D Sicknick has become the fifth fatality of the riots.

He died late on Thursday after sustaining injuries while "physically engaging with protesters", external, a statement from Capitol Police said.

He later collapsed in his division office and was taken to hospital.

US media reported that Sicknick was hit with a fire extinguisher, external during the violence.

Sicknick had worked for the Capitol Police for more than 10 years and most recently worked in its first responder unit, external, CBS News reports.

Image source, Reuters

The US Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, became the second cabinet member to quit following the Capitol riot.

In her resignation letter, DeVos - one of the longest serving members of the president's administration - accused the president of fomenting Wednesday's disorder. "There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me."

The transportation secretary had stepped down earlier. Elaine Chao said she had been "deeply troubled" by the rampage.

Other aides to quit include special envoy Mick Mulvaney, a senior national security official, and the chief of staff to First Lady Melania Trump. A state department adviser was also sacked after calling Trump "unfit for office" in a tweet.

But a Trump-supporting Republican strategist, Seth Weathers, played down the resignations, saying those quitting were never fully on board with Trump anyway.

"I think that these are people... were maybe not inclined to be Donald Trump-type individuals themselves, so I think it's understandable from their perspective, but I think unnecessary," he told the BBC.

"They stuck with Trump through all this time, why would they resign 13 days before he's leaving office anyway. It just seems rather pointless."

President Trump returned to Twitter on Thursday following a 12-hour freeze of his account.

"Now Congress has certified the results a new administration will be inaugurated on January 20th," the Republican said in a video, without mentioning Biden by name.

His message was the closest he has come to a formal acceptance of his defeat after weeks of falsely insisting he actually won the election in a "landslide".

Watch part of president's message below.

Welcome to our coverage of the latest developments in the US. Here's a recap of the main headlines:

• Top Democrats have called for President Trump to be removed for "inciting" a riot on the US Congress building, known as the Capitol, on Wednesday
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to the Constitution to declare the president unfit for office
• Alternatively, she vowed to initiate the process to impeach the president

• Under pressure, Donald Trump finally condemned the "heinous attack" in a video, and vowed an "orderly" transition of power
• Wednesday's violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the November vote
• Five people have died in relation to the riot, including Brian Sicknick, an officer at the US Capitol Police (USCP)