Donald Trump

He was barred indefinitely from both sites in January in the wake of posts he made on the US Capitol riots, but last month Facebook's Oversight Board criticised the open-ended penalty.

Facebook said Mr Trump's actions were "a severe violation of our rules".

Mr Trump said the move was "an insult" to the millions who voted for him in last year's presidential election.

Facebook's move comes as the social media giant is also ending a policy shielding politicians from some content moderation rules.

The adviser, confirming a report in Politico, said lawyers for Trump on Friday had sent cease-and-desist letters to the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Campaign and National Republican Senate Campaign, asking them to stop using his name and likeness on fundraising emails and merchandise.

"Transgender servicemembers will no longer be subject to the possibility of discharge or separation on the basis of gender identity," the White House said.

There were 8,980 active duty transgender troops in 2019, according to Department of Defence data analysed by the Palm Center, a non-profit group.

"President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America's strength is found in its diversity," the White House statement added.

A photomontage, on his official website, appears to show the ex-US president playing golf in the shadow of a warplane or large drone.

The website image is captioned "vengeance is definite".

Twitter has suspended a small account which first tweeted the image.

A spokeswoman told Reuters the account - @khamenei_site - was fake and violated Twitter's platform manipulation and spam policy.

However, the post was also retweeted by Ayatollah Khamenei's much larger Farsi Twitter account with more than 300,000 followers. It has since disappeared from that account.

Mr Trump is accused of inciting a mob that stormed Congress last week after he repeated false claims of election fraud. Five people died.

The trial will be held after the president leaves office next Wednesday.

If Mr Trump is convicted, senators could also vote to bar him from ever holding public office again.

The trial follows Wednesday's vote in the House of Representatives that formally charged - or impeached - the president with "incitement of insurrection" for his role in the riot.

After egging on a mob that rioted inside the US Capitol last week, the brand that's at the heart of President Donald Trump's career and fortune is in crisis. He is being shunned by some of the political donors who fuel him, the tech companies that amplify his voice, the banks handling his finances, the American golf industry that brings business to his clubs, and even the Canadian company behind his online stores.

The Google-owned service has prevented his account from uploading new videos or live-streaming material for a minimum of seven days, and has said it may extend the period.

The firm said the channel had broken its rules over the incitement of violence.

The president had posted several videos on Tuesday night, some of which remain online.

Google has not provided details of what Mr Trump said in the video it banned, however the BBC has discovered it was a clip from a press conference he had given on Tuesday.

Twitter said the decision was made "after close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account".

It comes amid a Big Tech purge of the online platforms used by Mr Trump and his supporters.

Some lawmakers and celebrities have been calling for years on Twitter to ban Mr Trump altogether. 

Former First Lady Michelle Obama tweeted on Thursday that the Silicon Valley giants should stop enabling Mr Trump's "monstrous behaviour" and permanently expel him.

Pro-Trump extremists entered the premises armed with shields and rioting equipment.

They destroyed parts of the historic building, defaced property and invaded the senate floor, disrupting Congress who had to be evacuated to safety.

In a Twitter statement, Michelle Obama wrote about her hurt and frustration witnessing the riot and the contrast between Black lives matter protests and the invasion of the Capitol building.

"It all left me with so many questions - questions about the future, questions about security, extremism, propaganda and more," she said.

The last time it happened was in 1869, when outgoing president Andrew Johnson refused to travel to the ceremony in the same carriage as President-elect Ulysses Grant.

Trump announced his decision on Twitter.

Media outlets previously reported that Trump was planning to be at his golf course in Scotland, but Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would not allow him to enter the country.

It is now expected that Trump will leave the White House on 19 January and fly to his Florida base, Mar-a-Lago.