Newly sworn in President of the United States, Donald Trump, has signed a flurry of executive orders barely hours after he was sworn into office as the 47th president of the US.
Trump’s second coming is expected to be a clear shift from the Joe Biden presidency with the new president not wasting any time in issuing a slew of executive orders on everything from birthright citizenship to immigration, climate, pardons to Capitol Building rioters, among others.
Executive orders carry the weight of law, but can be overturned by subsequent presidents or the courts but as Trump settles in for serious business in the White House, he has quickly set about using his new powers to sign off on executive actions, presidential memorandums and executive orders on a host of policy priorities.
By so doing, Trump effectively rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions, including an executive order that required federal agencies to extend prohibitions on sex discrimination; an order that required executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge; an order that allowed transgender people to serve in the military; and an order that banned the renewal of private prison contracts.
Here are some of the sweeping changes and actions President Trump has embarked upon shortly after he was sworn into office.
1. Birthright citizenship:
Birthright citizenship was one of the most controversial orders signed by Trump which many have criticized as an attempt to deny the right to citizenship to the children of migrants either in the US illegally or on temporary visas.
By his new order, children born in America will not automatically be citizens.
According to critics of the new law, the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution has long been interpreted to enshrine that right, but see Trump’s action is trying to truncate the right with opponents vowing to immediately challenge it in federal courts.
2. Transgender People:
Another decision taken by Trump in standing with his pre-election vow, was an executive order declaring that the US will only recognise two sexes, male and female. According to Trump, “these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
Critics say the gender executive order will affect transgender policy regarding government communications, civil rights protections and federal funding, prisons, as well as affecting official documents like passports and visas.
3. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
In the same executive order, Trump effectively ended all government programmes, policies, statements and communications that promote or support gender ideology. With that, he halted all diversity, equity and inclusion programmes within the federal government, an action seen as the end of “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing”.
The order covers all federal agencies and includes those that get federal grants, or have federal contracts.
4. Deportations:
President Trump also issued an executive order ending the practice of what was popularly called “catch and release”, a policy that allows migrants to live in US communities while awaiting their hearings.
During his campaign for the election, Trump had promised to launch the largest deportation program in American history and end a long-time policy that has kept federal immigration authorities from conducting raids on churches and schools.
5. Pardons for January 6 rioters:
Trump also signed an executive order granting pardon to over 1,500 people charged in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, and commuted the sentences of leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
6. Terrorism designation for gangs and cartels
Trump also signed an order directing that designating drug cartels and international gangs as foreign terrorist organisations, adding Salvadoran migrant gang MS-13 and Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, to a list that includes al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and Hamas.
7. Withdrawal from WHO:
President Trump also announced that he is withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO), saying the agency “continues to demand unfairly onerous payments” from the US.
8. TikTok:
Trump also signed a directive delaying the enforcement of a law banning Chinese-owned social media platform, TikTok for 75 days. The law gives the president a broader discretion on how to enforce the ban on the video app.
According to Trump, his order would give TikTok’s parent company more time to find a US partner to buy a majority stake, adding that the directive gives him the right to “sell it or close it”.
9. Trump also signed an executive order ending the use of an app that allows migrants to notify US Customs and Border Protection that they intend to enter the United States.
10. Trump also took executive action on renaming of US landmarks including renaming Denali and the Gulf of Mexico, a move he says will “honor American greatness.”
