DONALD Trump swept into his second term as President with a slew of agenda setting executive orders.
The MAGA leader, 78, returned to the Oval Office after four years with a flurry of drastic measures ranging from saving TikTok to renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
AlamyPresident Donald Trump sits behind the Oval Office desk with a slew of executive orders laid out in front of him[/caption]
Migrants gather at the southern US border with Mexico
GettyKey West, Florida, which meets the Gulf of Mexico[/caption]
Within mere hours of his swearing in, he had set the tone for immigration, the climate, domestic and crime agendas in his new administration.
Trump withdrew from the landmark Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation, axed a whopping 78 Biden-era executive actions and handed out more than 1,500 pardons.
He had signed his first executive directives even before the inaugural lunch on Monday afternoon – using them to appoint several officials in top-ranking positions.
After they’re confirmed by the Senate, Trump will have his picks heading up the CIA, US Army, Homeland Security, Defense department and more.
He placed a freeze on hiring for any federal departments except for the military and a small number of other categories.
And an order was put down for all federal employees to return to full-time, in-person work, stamping out any remote working policies.
He also placed a freeze on any more bureaucratic regulations until his administration regain “full control” of the government.
One of his first acts after settling back into the Oval Office was to pardon over 1,500 Americans who were convicted in connection with the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump also gave orders for around 450 pending cases against January 6 defendants to be dismissed.
His supporters stormed the Capitol after Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election – falsely claiming the vote had been rigged.
Roughly 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack, with some sprayed with chemical irritants and others struck with pipes, poles and other weapons. Four people died during the chaos, including a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police.
ReutersAsylum seekers react to new immigration policy on inauguration day at a temporary shelter[/caption]
ON IMMIGRATION
Trump declared an official national emergency at the US-Mexico border on Monday – meaning he can use federal funding to build a wall along the boundary without the permission of Congress.
While signing the order, he said “That’s a big one. People have wanted to do this for years.”
He also signed a directive to end birthright citizenship – when a person born on US soil is given American citizenship.
Protected by the Constitution – this order is likely to come up against hefty legal challenges during his term.
Trump also signed an order to designate Mexican drug cartels and certain gangs from El Salvador or Venezuela as foreign terrorist organisations.
This could give his government more powers to go after the criminal organisations with military strikes or to forcefully remove their members from the US.
He also reignited the “Remain in Mexico” policy which forces asylum seekers to stay there while their cases work through American courts.
Trump also promised mass deportations – although the specifics of this are likely to be challenged by the courts as well.
And he closed down a Biden-era Customs and Border Protection app that gave migrants the chance to apply to legally enter the US by seeking asylum.
ReutersA migrant holds a phone displaying a disclaimer about appointments scheduled through the US Customs and Border Protection app not being valid[/caption]
CLIMATE CRUNCH
Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement on Monday – just as he did at the beginning of his first term.
He said on Monday: “I’m immediately withdrawing from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord ripoff.
“The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”
He also pulled out of the WHO – meaning the organisation will be millions of dollars worse off – and certain global vaccination directives will no longer apply to the US.
Trump also declared another “national energy emergency”, paving the way for him to bypass certain green regulations.
TIKTOK PLANS
Social media site TikTok recently came under fire in the US because of its Chinese parent company – ByteDance.
It went offline during a brief ban in America on Sunday – but was back again with a notification thanking “President Trump” for his efforts.
After officially taking office on Monday he signed an executive order to block the ban from taking effect for a further 90 days.
It gives ByteDance a month and a half to divest from TikTok – therefore salvaging the app for Americans.
“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok,” he said.
TikTok was briefly suspended in the US before Trump helped bring it back
‘GULF OF AMERICA’
Another of Trump’s most notorious pledges on Monday was to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The ocean basin – bordered by the US Gulf coast, Mexico’s eastern states and Cuba – is a key point for fishing, transport, oil and gas prodeuction.
Trump said yesterday: “A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
Earlier this month he claimed the name change would be acceptable “because we do most of the work there, and it’s ours”.
Without a formal international precedent for this situation it’s unclear whether or not he’ll be able to do so.
Trump also renamed Mount Denali – the highest mountain in North America – to Mount McKinley.
It was named this until then-President Barack Obama changed it in 2015 to Denali – to reflect the traditional native Athabascan name.
He did this to “honor American greatness” the order read.
CREATING ‘DOGE’
The infamous Department of Government Efficiency – an apparent brainchild of Trump and his pal tech tycoon Elon Musk – is a long-awaited fixture of the new administration.
Trump officially forged it with an executive order on Monday evening by changing the name of the Digital Service – created in 2014 by Obama – to the “United States DOGE Service.”
The department is set to oversee huge federal budget cuts to reduce “the size and scope of government”.
It will be led by SpaceX boss Musk.
Elon Musk will head up the new DOGE department
SECURITY CLEARANCES
Trump also signed two executive orders relating to security clearance levels.
One allows White House employees to obtain top secret levels of clearance without going through the traditional vetting process.
Another removes security clearances for some 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter saying that a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
At a campaign rally last June he said “They should be prosecuted for what they did”.
ReutersFormer US President Joe Biden with his son Hunter Biden[/caption]
FLAG FUN
In a slightly more bizarre move for his first day, Trump signed an order to ensure that all US flags are flown at full-staff on every inauguration day.
It came after Trump complained that the flags would be flown at half-mast during his inauguration celebrations in tribute to the late President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December.
American tradition dictates they are flown at half mast for 30 days after the death of a serving or former president.
He wrote on Truth Social: “In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast.
“Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.”
The Mega AgencyA flag hangs at half mast above the White House[/caption]
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MEASURES
Trump fulfilled one of his longer campaign promises to curtail the rights of transgender people with an executive order.
The directive said his administration would be sure to use “clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” it read.
“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
He then signed an order crushing federal programs designed to improve diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace – dubbing them “wasteful, illegal and immoral”.
TRICKY TARIFFS
Trump also signed an executive order stating that as of February 1, countries like Canada and Mexico will be subject to a 25 per cent import tarriff.
And he signed another about a corporate tax deal created by Biden that set out a minimum global charge negotiated by over 100 difference countries.
Trump’s order said it has “no force or effect” in the US without an act by Congress.
Trump holds up an executive order with his signature Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
