Here are all the executive orders Trump signed on Day 1
After months of vows and promises, President
Donald Trump put his big black sharpie to
dozens and dozens of orders pushing the country away from Biden and into what he's called the "golden age" of America. As he sat in the
Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk (which notably has been in the Oval since 1880 and was made from wood of the British boat HMS Resolute, a gift from Queen Victoria), he spoke to reporters from the White House press corps, answering questions, joking around, and generally offering a level of transparency to the workings of the executive office that has not been seen during these past four years.
He rescinded the 78 orders that Biden signed that rescinded his orders. He instituted a regulatory freeze to stop government bureaucrats from issuing any new regulations until his administration has control of government and freeze on federal hiring. All federal workers have on Monday been ordered back to work in person in an office building in DC.
All federal agencies are required to address the cost of living crisis in America, including housing, the cost of home appliances, the elimination of "coercive" climate policies, and the creation of employment opportunities, including "drawing discouraged workers into the labor force." He made appointments of "acting" cabinet and deputy positions while waiting for the Senate to confirm his nominees after all the hearings last week.
Another order granted pardons to some 1,500 J6ers. "This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation," it read.
He issued an
order restoring "freedom of speech and ending federal censorship, slamming the Biden administration for having trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve." That's all over as of Monday, as is the "weaponization of government against the political adversaries of the previous administration, as we've seen."
Trump cleared the "backlog" in the processing of security clearances for those hired to work in the Executive Office so that he can staff up quickly. He issued an executive order to revoke security clearances held by the 51 current and former intel personnel who signed off on a letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop had the "hallmarks" of Russian disinformation, saying that this was a form of election interference. This revoking of security clearance included John Bolton. Trump also made it easier for the administration to fire those resistance-oriented government workers who engage in "insubordination or serious misconduct."
Trump signed an executive order
ending birthright citizenship, which will definitely face legal challenges, and he designated the Mexican drug cartels and human smuggling groups as foreign terrorist organizations. He signed an order guaranteeing the states protection against invasion and another to change Denali back to Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. There's no more DEI spending in the federal government, and another to "defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male."
DOGE was officially christened as an advisory group to investigate wasteful government spending and newly minted Secretary of State Marco Rubio received the "America First Policy Directive" to guide him during his days in that position. Drilling is back as Alaska's natural resources were opened up to industry while there was a temporary withdrawal of off shore wind leasing for windmill energy. In addition, he declared a national energy emergency, restored accountability for career senior executives, and laid out plans for "beautiful" federal civic architecture (if you've been to DC and seen the brutalist concrete monstrosities you know why this is important). Biden had put an end to the federal death penalty and then on his way out commuted the sentences of those on death row—Trump put the death penalty back on the table.
Trump put a
hold on refugee admissions to the US after Biden had extended the cap to 125,000 persons per year. The program will be back within 90 days, but that can only be done after DHS has submitted a report on whether or not refugee admittance is "in the interests of the United States." He also is planning to use the
US military to aid in sealing the borders to "maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities."
On climate, withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, issued an order "putting people over fish" to put an end to the "radical environmentalism" that prevents water flow to southern California. "America first" is now also the primary consideration in environmental agreements.
The US is no longer a member of the World Health Organization as of Monday but TikTok is back in business, with Trump saying that a US buyer could team up in a joint venture with the US government wherein each entity would own half. His announcement of this plan meant that TikTok, which shut down early Sunday, came back into being by mid-day.
The US flag that was flown at half-staff following the funeral of President Jimmy Carter was ordered to be raised to full, as well, for Inauguration Day. And we have reason to believe all of this is just the beginning. He indicated that tariffs would be coming February 1 and that America's neighbors would see 25% tariffs first. The way to avoid those tariffs is to open up operations in America.
