'Trump watched riot on TV, ignoring pleas to call off the mob'

DONALD TRUMP watched the Capitol riot on television for more than three hours while ignoring pleas from aides, members of Congress and his own family to intervene and call off the mob attack, an investigation has heard.

- Tristan Kirk

The former president followed events unfolding on Fox News from his favourite spot in a private dining room in the West Wing as hundreds of his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, after his election loss to Joe Biden.

One adviser, Sarah Matthews, resigned on the spot when Mr Trump poured "gasoline on the fire" by tweeting condemnation of his own vice-president Mike Pence for not blocking the presidential election result.

"I thought that January 6, 2021 was one of the darkest days in our nation's history," she said. "And President Trump was treating it as a celebratory occasion. So it just further cemented my decision to resign."

New insights into Mr Trump's thinking emerged at the latest hearing of a Congressional investigation into the riot, which left five people dead.