Donald Trump urges no violence as impeachment nears

Impeachment ahead, the US House will first try to convince the vice president and cabinet to act even more quickly to remove President Donald Trump from office, arguing he is a threat to democracy in the remaining days of his presidency.

House lawmakers are reconvening at the Capitol for the first time since the deadly pro-Trump riot to approve a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unable to serve.

Pence is not expected to take any such action.

The House would next move swiftly to impeach Trump.

Trump told reporters at the White House the prospect of impeachment is causing "tremendous anger" in the county but he said he wants "no violence".

The president spoke as he left for Texas to survey the border wall with Mexico.

His remarks were his first to reporters since the Capitol attack.

On impeachment, Trump said it's "a really terrible thing that they're doing".

But he said, "We want no violence. Never violence".

Trump told reporters his speech before Wednesday's assault - in which he urged supporters to walk to the Capitol and "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women" - had been analysed by others, who he said believed it was "totally appropriate".

"If you read my speech... what I said was totally appropriate," he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews when asked about any personal responsibility he had regarding the January 6 attack.

"They've analysed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence and everybody... thought it was totally appropriate," he said before heading to Alamo, Texas to visit and sign his signature wall on the border with Mexico.

Trump's remarks on Tuesday were his first in public since the attack although he released a video on Thursday in which he condemned the violence.

Trump did not answer a shouted question before leaving the White House about whether he was responsible for the violence at the Capitol, which led to the deaths of six people.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told Republicans on Monday that Trump had acknowledged during a phone call that he bears "some responsibility" for the siege.

"I asked him personally today if he holds responsibility for what happened, if he feels bad about what happened. He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened," McCarthy told Republicans during a two and a half-hour conversation, according to a source who took part in the call.

Trump faces a single charge - "incitement of insurrection" - in the impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating on Wednesday, a week before Democrat Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated on January 20.

Pence and Trump met late on Monday for the first time since the Capitol attack and had a "good conversation" pledging to continue working for the remainder of their terms, said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Pence has given no indication he would proceed with invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

No member of the Cabinet has publicly called for Trump to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment process.

As security tightened, Biden said on Monday he was "not afraid" of taking the oath of office outside at the Capitol.

As for the rioters, Biden said, "It is critically important that there'll be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engaged in sedition and threatening the lives, defacing public property, caused great damage - that they be held accountable."