President Donald Trump caused a frenzy in Washington D.C. by signing 26 executive orders (EO) in the 12 hours following his inauguration on Jan. 20th. This sets a new record for the number of executive orders signed by any US president on their first day in office, including Joe Biden (who signed eight).
EOs are official directives from the president that change the federal government in some manner, according to the American Bar Association. The Federal Register hosts all documents of the U.S. government.
Executive Orders often have the force of a law passed by Congress but don’t require its approval. It also only applies to the federal government, so state laws can typically conflict with it. They can only be nullified by the Supreme Court declaring them unconstitutional or a sitting U.S. president signing a competing EO.
For example, Trump signed Executive Order 14162 removing the US from the Paris Climate Accords, the largest international treaty to combat the detrimental effects of climate change. This reversed Biden’s executive order which brought the U.S. back into the agreement in 2021.
Trump also declared a national energy emergency to address an alleged energy shortage. Despite the U.S. being the world’s largest oil and gas producer and a net energy exporter under the Biden administration, Trump expanded this even further by leasing more federal lands to fossil fuel companies, including Alaska, and relaxing several fossil fuel regulations.
Trump has nearly upended the US foreign and immigration policy. For example, EO 14160 redefines birthright citizenship. Although it’s currently being challenged in court, if it succeeds, it will remove and prevent citizenship for persons born on US soil if the mother was in the country temporarily, or if neither parent is a lawful permanent resident or citizen.
By declaring a national emergency at the Mexican border, Trump vows to secure the southern border and stop the entry of illegal immigrants, cartels and gangs into the country. For the moment, the majority of immigration at the border has slowed. The administration has already taken steps to, among other provisions, deport individuals violating new regulations, increase the military presence on the border and reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy.
In other international repercussions, Trump has begun the formal process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization, designated several drug and crime cartels as terrorist organizations and halted all U.S. foreign aid and the Refugee Admissions Program for review to ensure an “America first foreign policy.” It is unclear when Trump will reopen the southern border and asylum processing.
After pausing all federal hiring except for the military and law enforcement, Trump ended all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in the federal government. Another EO threatens withholding federal funding and contracts for companies and institutions like universities and K-12 schools that don’t do the same.
EO 14152 reinstates a reformed version of Schedule F, permitting the president to replace more federal employees with ones fully dedicated to fulfilling the agendas of the president. The aim is to prioritize merit based hiring.
In education, the Department of Education still stands despite heavy speculation. Another EO stresses the importance of school choice and ending “anti-American ideologies” which are “deliberately blocking parental oversight” such as critical race theory and gender ideology. His change in the federal policy on transgender rights has drawn criticism and lawsuits from civil rights groups. Executive Order 14168 states the federal government recognizes only 2 genders, among other provisions, although its definition conflicts with biological definitions.
The ban on TikTok was postponed by 75 days through EO 14166, allowing TikTok more time to find a U.S. based owner or face a permanent ban on US soil.
A relatively unpopular action was pardoning 1,583 individuals involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. capitol in 2021. They include some peaceful protestors and others convicted of damaging federal property, threatening violence against members of Congress, seditious conspiracy and assaulting and harming law enforcement officers.
Trump said the Justice Department, which has also dropped its cases against him, was holding the Jan. 6 rioters as “political prisoners.”
He unexpectedly followed through on a post election promise to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America” and “Mount Denali” in Alaska to “Mount McKinley” to “Honor American Greatness.” Although a small change at first glance, it undermines the cultural importance of places like Mount Denali to the native Athabascan tribe.
Such name changes won’t have any international bearing.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been brought to life.
Tech magnate Elon Musk was originally supposed to co-lead DOGE with Vivek Ramaswamy, who has officially left the administration amongst rumors that he may run to be the Governor of Ohio in 2026. Trump hopes DOGE will supervise reducing the size of government.
Tariffs, a hallmark of Trump’s campaign for lowering the cost of consumer goods, are expected to begin in February against Mexico and Canada.
Trump experienced some pushback from Republicans when he attempted to pause all federal funding programs for review. The order was quickly rescinded.
The president’s mandate places the country in a wildly different place than it was on January 19th, and the America first agenda will produce fundamental changes if his initiatives pass scrutiny from the judiciary, Congress and the American people.