In first remark, Trump mocks worldwide demonstrations

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump mocked protesters who gathered for large demonstrations across the U.S. and the world on Saturday to signal discontent with his leadership, questioning whether they voted and criticizing celebrities who participated in the events.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly,” Trump said early Sunday in a Twitter post. It was his administration’s first direct response to the Women’s March on Washington and related events.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington on Saturday and at coordinated protests in New York, Chicago, Boston and other US cities and towns, as well as in Paris, Berlin, Ottawa and other international locations, to protest Trump’s presidency. The crowds choked subway trains in Washington, where the transit authority said ridership eclipsed that of the inauguration.
Instead of the red “Make America Great Again” regalia popular at the inauguration, many marchers wore pink knitted caps with pointed corners, dubbed “hats,” as a symbol of defiance to the new president. Speakers including the musician Madonna denounced Trump.
“The revolution starts here,” she told the crowd as thousands of marchers began heading towards the White House. “The fight for the right to be free, to be who we are, to be equal. Let’s march together through this darkness.”
However, Madonna also drew criticism from Trump supporters for musing that she had thought about “blowing up the White House.”
Other celebrities appeared, including singer Alicia Keys and activist/filmmaker Michael Moore. Actress Ashley Judd recited an anti-Trump poem written by a young woman from Tennessee.
Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, issued an angry statement from the podium of the White House briefing room Saturday afternoon in which he lambasted the press for its reporting on the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd and insisted that audiences for the inauguration
and the women’s march couldn’t be compared.

Russia PM calls idea US will lift sanctions soon ‘illusion’ 

MOSCOW / AP

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says the west’s sanctions on Russia are likely to remain in place “for a long time” despite expectations Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president will lead to warmer relations between Washington and Moscow.
Medvedev told members of the ruling United Russia party on Sunday that Russian leaders “can’t place our hope on foreign elections” and “it’s time to dispense with the illusion that sanctions against our country will be lifted.”
Trump’s pledge to bring a fresh eye to Russia has produced some excitement in Russia. But senior Russian officials are warning that differences between Moscow and Washington will not disappear overnight.
The US and European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.