Did you catch these executive orders on inauguration day?
It’s official, folks! Donald Trump is now the president of the United States of America. After taking his oath at the US Capitol, Potus delivered an inaugural speech… We can safely say that it was passionate and delivered a few major shockers.
Trump signed a series of executive orders, some of which revoked dozens of Joe Biden’s policies. So, all in all, we can probably say that Trump’s America is going to look quite different.
So, if you missed it, let’s break it down. Here are 6 of the most shocking executive orders Trump signed during his very first day in office.
Executive order: TikTok and the economy
Donald Trump signed a largely symbolic memorandum, which he defined as directing every federal agency to fight consumer inflation. By repealing Biden’s actions and adding his executive orders, Trump is easing regulatory burdens on natural gas and oil production.
He promises that he will bring down the costs of all consumer goods. Trump is explicitly targeting Alaska for expanded fossil fuel production. Regarding trade, the president said he expects to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada beginning February 1st but declined to discuss his plans for taxing Chinese imports.
The president also signed an executive order intended to halt Congress’ TikTok ban for 75 days, a period in which the president declared he will seek a US buyer in a deal that can protect national security interests while leaving the popular social media platform open to the American public.
Executive order: The January 6th rioters were pardoned
There was a lot of speculation over this one. A few hours after his inauguration, Trump said he was pardoning approximately 1,500 US Capitol rioters, who stormed the building trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The president also ordered all pending criminal cases against the rioters to be dropped.
Among those receiving a pardon was Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for directing a military-style assault on the Capitol. Stewart Rhodes, the leader of another group, the Oath Keepers, had his 18-year prison sentence lightened to time served. Both men had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The defendants in the case of January 6th are expected to be released from jail before midnight. While Vice President JD Vance indicated only a few days ago that some of the most violent of the January 6th rioters might not get clemency, Trump has pardoned all of them, even those who rampaged Congressional offices and assaulted police officers.
Nancy Pelosi, who at the time of the riot was the Democratic House speaker, has called Trump’s decision an “outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress, and the Constitution.”
Executive order: Tougher on immigration
President Trump signed numerous executive orders and decrees to crack down on immigration. He passed an order addressing the definition of birthright citizenship and proclaiming illegal immigration at the border a national emergency.
He also reversed several immigration orders from Joe Biden’s presidency, including those that are deemed national security threats, one that limited deportation priorities to individuals who commit serious crimes or those who were stopped at the border. It practically returns the government to Trump’s first-term policy that everyone in the nation illegally is a priority for deportation.
Acting on his promise to secure the US-Mexico border, he declared a national emergency. He plans to send American troops to places like Chicago in order to help support immigration agents and restrict refugees and asylum.
He has also pledged to resume a policy that forced asylum seekers to wait over the border in Mexico, though officials didn’t say whether Mexico would accept migrants again. Trump is also promising to end birthright citizenship, but it is unclear as of now how he’ll do it.
He will likely face steep legal opposition since it’s consecrated in the US Constitution. The president is ending the CBP One app, a Biden-era border app that gave legal entry to almost one million migrants.
Executive order: The two-gender rule and an anti-DEI policy
As promised during his campaign, President Trump has moved to change the US government policies regarding gender and diversity. During his inaugural address, he said, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
On his first day back, he signed executive orders rolling back protections for transgender individuals and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the federal government. In his speech, he explained that this move is to end efforts to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”
Both are significant shifts from federal policy. One order states that the federal government would only recognize two immutable genders: male and female. The meaning will be based on whether babies are born with eggs or sperm rather than on their chromosomes.
The change is being raised as a way to defend women from “gender extremism.” Under the order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and assault victims are to be segregated by gender as defined by the order.
Executive order: Retreating from WHO
Keeping his word about another pledge he made during his campaign, the president has pulled the United States from the World Health Organization. He began the process of withdrawing from the United Nations health agency during his first term because he believed WHO failed in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and hadn’t shown independence from China.
But, when President Biden took over, he reversed the decision on his first day. Now, Trump has signed an executive order declaring that the United States of America issued a notice about its withdrawal in 2020 “due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
Conversely, the US is the World Health Organization’s top donor. In fact, it turns out that the US contributes around $130 million annually to help cover the agency’s global health preparedness and response, along with efforts to address tuberculosis, HIV, and childhood vaccination, according to Devex.
Executive order: No more WFH for federal employees
During his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal workers to return to the office full-time. “Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements,” the White House said in a statement affirming the executive order.
This also requires employees “to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.” “This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law,” it included.
The language in the statement underlines the difficulties the new Trump administration will likely face in enforcing this executive order due to the strong opposition to ending remote work by unions representing public sector workers.
WFH allowances grew during the COVID-19 pandemic when millions of white-collar workers began working online as their employers tried to reduce the spread of the virus. The measures proved popular with many employees, who voiced support for the new-found flexibility it afforded them in their personal lives.
Many of President Trump’s most ardent supporters, including his billionaire ally and mega-donor Elon Musk, have said work-from-home policies were inefficient and have called for federal workers to return to the office full-time.
For more on executive orders and how they work, check out By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power
What are your thoughts on President Trump’s executive orders? Let us know in the comments. And if you liked this article, we also recommend: 5 Immigration Challenges Trump Will Face in His Second Term
