Shortly after taking office on Monday, Trump began enforcing his agenda through a series of executive orders covering immigration, climate, pardons, and several other issues.
These orders represent some of his policy priorities, which his campaign relied on. They will be implemented as law, though some may face legal challenges.
Here is a rundown of the most important changes he has made so far.
Immigration
Birth-right Citizenship
Among the several immigration-focused orders, this was the most controversial. It aims to deny the right to citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants, starting 30 days from the day it was signed. The 14th Amendment of the US constitution has been protecting this right, making Trump’s order challenging to implement.
National emergency at southern border
Trump signed a directive declaring a state of emergency at the southern border, aiming to implement stricter immigration policies as well as to resume building physical barriers along the US-Mexico border.
Deportation
Trump issued a directive that ends the “catch and release” policy, which used to allow immigrants awaiting their hearings to live temporarily in the US.
Terrorism
Another directive was signed in order to now classify drug cartels as terrorist groups. Migrant gangs like the Salvadoran MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be added to the list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, which lists groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Gender and diversity
Gender
An order issued declares that the US will only recognise two sexes: male and female. This order will affect policies protecting transgender individuals as it addresses the idea of gender ideology, stating that “Gender ideology replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true”. Through this, protections for transgender people serving time in federal prisons are removed.
DEI
Through this directive, Trump aims to stop “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) programmes, which includes federal grants and federal contracts.
Re-namings
One of Trump’s first orders aims to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” and to rename Alaska’s Mount Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, to Mount McKinley. This reverses President Obama’s directive that changed the name from McKinley to Denali in accordance with the name native tribes had given it.
Pardons for January 6 Capitol attackers
Trump granted clemency to nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the January 6th 2021 attack on the Capitol. He also commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, two seditionist far-right groups.
Leaving the World Health Organisation
Trump signed a directive that initiates the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organisation (WHO). He accused the WHO of mishandling the Covid-19 pandemic and claimed that “World Health ripped us off”. The US is one of the biggest financial backers of the organisation, contributing around 18% of its overall funding.
TikTok ban
The president ordered a directive delaying the federal TikTok ban by 75 days, saying “I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally”. This comes after he issued an executive order in 2020 to bar app stores from making TikTok available to download in order to push for American ownership of the company.
Government
Federal workforce
This directive reclassifies thousands of federal workers as political hires, stripping them of their civil service protection. He also ended remote work policies for federal workers and froze federal hiring with the exception of “military personnel of the armed forces or to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety”.
Department of Government Efficiency
Elon Musk’s new Department of Government Efficiency was signed in through an executive order and aims to improve governmental spending.
Censorship
Trump also signed a directive that orders “the restoration of freedom of speech and preventing government censorship”.
Climate and the Environment
Paris Agreement
Trump signed an order to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, a treaty aiming to manage and mitigate the climate crisis. He also pulled out of the agreement in 2017, but the change was not finalised until 2020 due to United Nations regulations. In 2021, Biden re-entered the agreement. This time, the withdrawal could only take a year.
Green New Deal
Another executive order aims to end Biden’s Green New Deal, a series of measures that would regulate the fossil fuel industry and limit pollution.
Electric vehicle targets
Trump also signed a directive that revoked an order signed by President Biden that aimed to make half of all vehicles sold by 2030 electric. He stated that “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity”.
National Energy Emergency
Trump declared a state of national energy emergency in an effort to boost US energy and fossil fuel infrastructure and production.
Another directive called “Unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential” will open up the Alaskan wilderness to more oil and gas drilling.
Economy
Tariffs
Although not yet signed, Trump promised to bring a directive that imposes 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting 1 Feb.
Inflation
Trump signed a federal directive aiming to address the cost of living crisis. Through this, he hopes to lower the cost of housing, groceries and fuel, though the directive did not outline a plan for these changes.
