President Donald Trump rejected any responsibility for the deadly storming of the US Capitol by his supporters last week, calling remarks he delivered during a rally outside the White House before the attack "totally appropriate" and warning lawmakers not to impeach him a second time.

Trump on Tuesday said it's "absolutely ridiculous" that the House is moving rapidly to impeach him for inciting an insurrection, saying the effort is causing "tremendous anger."

The president defended remarks he made at a rally at the Ellipse that preceded the Jan. 6 riot, which left five people dead including a US Capitol Police officer.

"People thought that what I said was totally appropriate, and if you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem, what they said," Trump said as he left for Texas to tour the border wall with Mexico.

Trump's lack of remorse is likely to further motivate Democrats -- and a handful Republicans -- in Congress who are intent on ousting him over his role in inciting the violence.

The House is set to issue a largely futile ultimatum to Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet on Tuesday, demanding they invoke constitutional authority to remove Trump from office. It's the first meeting of the House since the riot last Wednesday.

Pence is highly unlikely to take such action. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to go through with a vote on a single article of impeachment as soon as Wednesday. Asked when Trump's impeachment might be sent to the Senate for a trial, Pelosi declined to specify.

"I'm not going to talk about that," she told reporters at the Capitol. "One step at a time"

Trump's defiance could also put the president's Republican defenders in a tough spot, forcing them to answer for his latest comments about a riot that endangered their own safety.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday told colleagues he remains opposed to impeaching Trump, but is open to lesser options like a censure. He told fellow House Republicans on a conference call on Monday that Trump had acknowledged having some responsibility for the riot, according to a person familiar with the matter. Publicly, Trump has done no such thing.

The president had been largely silent after social media companies banned him last week from their platforms over concern his posts would incite further violence.

"It's really a terrible thing they're doing," Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House before boarding the presidential helicopter to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. He added, "We want no violence. Never violence."

But the president also slammed social media companies, saying "Big Tech has made a terrible mistake" in banning him from social media.

Democrats and several Republicans have decried Trump's role in inciting a mob that went on to force its way into the Capitol in a chaotic scene that disrupted the counting of Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.