President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on his first day back in office, promising swift changes while restoring the nation’s prominence in the world.
During a celebration inside the Capital One Arena with supporters, Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Trump went on to declare a national emergency on the Southern Border while designating criminal cartels as terror groups.
He also signed an executive order to bring an end to birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented parents.
After stepping back into the Oval Office, the 47th president pardoned more than 1,500 people who were charged with storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
That included commuting the sentences of those convicted.
Among the other orders President Trump signed on Monday was the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Trump also signed an executive order to delay the ban on TikTok for 75 days.
The ban on the social media app went into effect on Sunday and TikTok went dark for several hours Saturday night.
You can find the full list of executive orders signed by President Trump during his first day in office, below:
– Reinstating the name Mount McKinley
– Renaming Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America
– Designating Cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
– Ending diversity, inclusion, and equity hiring in the federal government
– Temporary withdrawal of all areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing\
– Granting pardons for January 6 rioters
– Reevaluating United States foreign aid
– Declaring a national energy emergency
– Restoring accountability for career senior executives
– Promoting beautiful federal civic architecture
– Restoring the death penalty in the US
– Routing more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of California
– Securing the United State’s borders
– United States citizenship does not automatically extend to those born in the United States
– Realignment of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
– Unleashing America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources
– Clarifying the military’s role in protecting the US borders
– Resolving the backlog of security clearances for Executive Office of the President
– Restoring accountability to policy-influence positions within the federal workforce
– Withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization
– Delaying TikTok ban for 75 days
– Putting America First in international environmental agreements
– Deliver emergency price relief to the American people
– Regulatory freeze pending review
– Restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship
– Recissions of dozens of executive orders and actions from Biden administration
– Ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government
– Only two sexes, male and female, to be recognized by the federal government
– Department of Government Efficiency to implement the president’s DOGE Agenda
– Putting America and its interests first in foreign policy
– Protecting US citizens from terrorist attacks and threats
– Tapping into the vast natural resources, energy, and seafood in Alaska
– Ensuring the federal government carries out United State’s immigration laws
– Pulling the US from the Paris Agreement
– Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States
– Pulling the US out of the global corporate tax deal secured by Biden
– Organization of the National Security Council and subcommittees
Trump signs executive actions on Jan. 6, TikTok, immigration and more
President Trump on Monday signed a flurry of executive orders, memorandums and proclamations after his inauguration, reversing many of his predecessors’ policies and reinstating actions from his first term in office.
He signed the first batch in front of a packed crowd at Capital One Arena, drawing cheers, before then moving to the Oval Office to sign more.
Trump and his officials also signaled a slew of other executive actions to come soon, ranging from campaign priorities like border security to culture war issues like DEI policies.
Here are some of the key orders either signed or signaled on Monday.
Trump issued pardons Monday for some 1,500 defendants who participated in the siege on the U.S. Capitol four years ago, wiping away scores of convictions for people who helped delay the certification of the 2020 election and upend the peaceful transfer of power. Those pardoned include rioters convicted of violence against police.
Designating criminal cartels as terrorists: This order defines drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, in order to expedite the removal of members of groups like Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela, and MS-13.
Suspending refugee resettlement: Trump signed an order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Ending birthright citizenship: Trump signed an order that would end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents without legal status. The order argues that the 14th Amendment, which enshrines birthright citizenship, does not extend to individuals who are born in the country but not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
This action has already seen legal challenges.
Enhance vetting and screening: This order instructs federal agencies to “vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks.”
“Protect American citizens against invasion”: This order instructs federal agencies to use “all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens.”
Restore the death penalty
Trump signed an order reinstating the federal death penalty, instructing the attorney general to “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.” In particular, it calls for the death penalty to be sought in all cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer, and all capital crimes committed by immigrants without legal status.
“Weaponization of government”
Trump signed an order “ending the weaponization of the federal government.”
Trump and his allies have long claimed that the Justice Department under Biden was weaponized against him, citing the various legal cases against him, and other conservatives.
DOJ prosecutors wound down the two federal criminal cases against Trump after he won the 2024 election, following longstanding department precedent. In a report on the government’s election interference case released last week, special counsel Jack Smith said the evidence against Trump would have led to his conviction at trial — if not for his election victory that led to charges being dropped.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to punish, prosecute or jail his political enemies. Trump has repeatedly indicated that he would use federal law enforcement as part of a campaign to exact “retribution.”
Federal workforce
Trump signed a “freeze on all federal hiring, excepting the military and a number of other excluded categories.” At Capital One Arena, Trump told his supporters the temporary pause would “ensure that we’re only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public.”
He also signed an order requiring federal workers to return to the office in person, and a “regulatory freeze” preventing the creation of new federal regulations.
Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord
Trump signed an order titled, “Putting America first in international environmental agreements,” which included withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord.
Trump previously withdrew from the Paris accords during his first term, but Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021.
Energy and climate
Trump intends to declare a national energy emergency, aiming to cut red tape and regulations for the energy industry, and a second one specific to Alaskan resources, an incoming White House official told reporters on a background conference call.
“That national energy emergency will unlock a variety of different authorities that will enable our nation to quickly build again, to produce coal and natural resources, to create jobs, to create prosperity and to strengthen our nation’s national security,” the official said. The official said energy prices are too high, but declined on the call to name a lower target price.
The action will end what incoming Trump officials call the “electric vehicle mandate” and will end “efforts to curtail consumer choice on the things that consumers use every single day, whether it be showerheads, whether it be gas stoves, whether it be dishwashers and the like,” the official said.
Trump has long railed against energy efficiency standards on the campaign trail, and specifically taken aim at “electric vehicle mandates,” a term he uses to encompass all policies designed to encourage a transition to battery-powered cars. Rules actually requiring 100% of vehicles to be electric do not exist on the federal level.\
Defining ‘sex’ and ending DEI programs
Trump signed an executive action Monday night dealing with gender identity. The details weren’t immediately made public; however, an incoming White House official speaking on background had told reporters earlier in the day that an order would make it the policy of the United States to recognize two biologically distinct sexes — male and female.
“These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the official said.
The change will require government agencies to use the definitions on documents like passports, visas and employee records the official said. Taxpayer funds will not be allowed to be used for “transition services,” the official said.
A second action will end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, the official said, giving as examples environmental justice programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as diversity training. source
A running list of Trump’s planned executive orders, actions, proclamations and legislation
Donald Trump is promising a “golden age of America” in his second term, and he’s issuing a raft of executive orders to try and make it happen.
The president signed a slew of orders and directives that aim to end birthright citizenship and crack down on illegal crossings at the southern border, increase domestic energy production and transform a federal government he views as both too bloated and too “woke.”
The president signed a slew of orders and directives that aim to end birthright citizenship and crack down on illegal crossings at the southern border, increase domestic energy production and transform a federal government he views as both too bloated and too “woke.”
Jan. 6 pardons
Trump pardoned some 1,500 people who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a sweeping grant of clemency that fulfilled a campaign-trail promise and upended years of the Justice Department’s efforts.
Immigration
Trump signed a slew of executive orders on Monday aimed at delivering on his long-promised crackdown on illegal border crossings and immigration more broadly. He also declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, deploying U.S. Armed Forces to the region.
He intends to end birthright citizenship by issuing an executive action that would reinterpret the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to all people born on domestic soil — a move that drew swift legal challenges, including from Democratic attorneys general.
Trump also moved to:
- Resume construction of the border wall
- End so-called catch and release
- Temporarily suspend refugee resettlement from certain countries for at least four months
- Restart the “Remain in Mexico” policy of his first term
- Restrict asylum using 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
- Designate drug cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations and invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to remove them — or, as he put it in his inaugural address, “eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil”
- Direct the incoming attorney general to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement and capital crimes committed by undocumented immigrants
Energy
Trump wants to “drill, baby, drill.” He’s going to do it by declaring a “national energy emergency” that would give him the power to increase domestic energy production — and undo many of the Biden administration’s clean-energy policies. The White House also announced that the U.S. will withdraw, again, from the Paris Climate Accord.
Among Trump’s other planned moves:
- Issue a memorandum detailing a governmentwide approach to bringing down inflation, according to the Trump team
- End what his team has referred to as an “electric vehicle mandate”
- End leasing to massive wind farms that “degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers”
Federal workforce
Want to work remote? Good luck. Trump signed executive orders last night focused on the federal workforce, including one order instructing all U.S. government departments and agencies to require employees to return to office, ending any remote accommodations. Trump also announced a hiring freeze across the executive branch except in “essential areas.”
The president also removed job protections for tens of thousands of government workers, which the White House said was necessary to rein in what Trump describes as “deep state” bureaucracy.
Among Trump’s other planned moves:
- End “radical and wasteful” diversity training programs, as well as environmental justice programs, equity-related grants and equity initiatives
- Freeze hiring except in essential areas to “end the onslaught of useless and overpaid DEI activists buried into the federal workforce,” according to the White House
- Freeze the issuing of new regulations
- Direct agencies to address the “cost of living crisis”
- Restore “freedom of speech” and “preventing government censorship”
- Create the “Department of Government Efficiency”
Health
Trump said in his speech the White House will instruct the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, as well as other agencies to remove “nonbinary” or “other” options from federal documents, including passports and visas, according to an incoming administration official.
“It will officially be the policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” Trump said.
He also signed an executive order removing the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
Among Trump’s other planned moves:
- Reinstate military members who were penalized for not getting vaccinated against Covid-19
Trade
Trump hasn’t enacted new tariffs, yet. Instead, he issued an order on Monday directing federal agencies to investigate and address trade deficits and unfair trade and currency practices.
Among Trump’s other planned moves:
- Impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1 (despite pledging to enact these broad tariffs on Day One)
- Establish the “External Revenue Service,” aiming to collect tariffs and other revenues from foreign nations
The rest
- Extend the deadline for TikTok to be divested or banned, a move that has questionable legality
- Suspend U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending a review of whether they align with his agenda
- Rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America — he’ll also return Mount Denali in Alaska to the name Mount McKinley, reversing an Obama-era change.
RESTORING FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND ENDING FEDERAL CENSORSHIP
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference. Over the last 4 years, the previous administration 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. Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: (a) secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech;
(b) ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen;
(c) ensure that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; and
(d) identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.
Sec. 3. Ending Censorship of Protected Speech. (a) No Federal department, agency, entity, officer, employee, or agent may act or use any Federal resources in a manner contrary to section 2 of this order.
(b) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 20, 2025. source