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These Are Some of the Noteworthy Executive Orders That Trump Signed on His First Day in Office

2025-01-21 , 5:53 pm

If you thought your boss was the most demanding person on Earth, think again.

In just his first day in office as the US president, Donald Trump has already issued approximately 200 executive actions, memoranda and proclamations, in a bid to carry out “a complete restoration of America”, as claimed in his inaugural speech.

In fact, he did that in front of the press when he was back in the Oval Office:

What Exactly Are Executive Orders?

According to the American Bar Association, executive orders are directives signed, written, and published by the president of the United States regarding how they want the federal government to be run.

These orders are almost like a ticket for the president to do whatever he/she wants; they require no approval from the US Congress, and Congress cannot simply overturn them; instead, they can pass new laws to override them instead.

A sitting US president may overturn an executive order issued by a previous president, or the federal courts can block it.

Just think of them as temporary laws made by the president, which aren’t set in stone.

Now, on to the executive orders that Trump signed on his first day as American President.

Get ready for a long list, because Trump evidently did not chao keng on his first day at work.

Tiktok Ban Delay

On 18 January 2025, following the US Supreme Courts ruling to uphold the TikTok ban due to national security concerns, TikTok shut itself down briefly.

Trump has extended the deadline by 75 days, so as to give ByteDance more time to sell TikTok to an American buyer or an American ally. He has also suggested TikTok be co-owned by both a Chinese and American firm.

A Retrograde Step in Environmental Conservation

Trump has ordered the withdrawal of US from the Paris climate agreement again.

This agreement is a legally binding international treaty with the goal of controlling global warming below 1.5 degrees Celcius.

With US being the second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, this withdrawal will indubitably hamper international efforts to slow down global warming and climate change.

Trump has also declared an energy emergency, which signals the loosening or even complete removal of environmental restrictions on fossil fuel infrastructure, such as oil drilling in Alaska, during his presidential term.

Furthermore, he has officially revoked a target for all new vehicles sold in America in 2023 to be electric. This would mean a significant reduction in provision of support by the government for the sale of electric vehicles.

Rescinding Biden-era Executive Orders

Notably, some of the policies that were revoked include prohibitions of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at federal agencies; sanctions on Jewish settlers in the West Bank; and guardrails surrounding the development of Artificial Intelligence.

Pardons for Individuals Involved in the Capitol Attack

Trump will be issuing pardons for rioters involved in the January 6 US Capitol attack; in other words, relieving them of any legal consequences of their crime.

The January 6 US Capitol attack was allegedly incited by Donald Trump in 2021, when he lost the US General Elections and posted accusations that the elections were rigged on Twitter. During his speech to supporters, he marshalled them to “peacefully” march to the Capitol building and protest so as to “make (their) voices heard”.

Well, his words were apparently not heeded, as there were almost 140 casualties, some of which suffered severe injuries.

Declaring Illegal Immigration a National Emergency

If you haven’t already heard, Trump has long ago wanted to build “The Great Wall of America”, a massive wall at the US-Mexico border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering America.

His official declaration of illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border as a national emergency will allow this wall to become a reality.

In addition, he has revoked several policies that will make seeking asylum in the US a much more difficult process.

Trump has also declared two major drug cartels as terrorist organisations, which would allow for the use of American military force in Mexico.

Reforms for Federal Government Employees

A federal hiring freeze was implemented by Trump as part of these reforms, supposedly to improve the efficiency of the use of existing personnel and funds.

According to the official statement by the White House, as part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on 20 January 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created.

The flexible work-from-home option will also no longer be available for federal employees, possibly driving many of them to resign.

Observers believe that these reforms are part of Trump’s efforts to revamp the civil service to one that is completely aligned with his ideologies.

Withdrawal from the World Health Organisation

First the Paris Climate Agreement, now the WHO – Trump seems to have major grudges against such international entities.

According to a White House Statement, the reason for this withdrawal is “the organisation’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic…and other global health crises” as well as the perceived unfair and disproportionate usage of American funding in the organisation.

US is the largest funder of WHO, contributing US$1.284 billion from 2022 to 2023. This withdrawal would create a huge dent in the WHO’s budget, possibly slowing advances in public health globally.

He’s Nowhere Near Done

After all, it has only been one day since Donald Trump has gone into office. Who knows what other questionable policies he will implement next.

While his signing of these executive orders may seem (terrifyingly) like a no-questions-asked, done deal, readers may be relieved to know that is not completely the case.

The US Congress may still pass legislation that might make it difficult, or even impossible to carry out the order, such as removing funding.

Or, as mentioned, the courts might block them, or deem them to violate constitutional rights or exceed statutory authority.

Nevertheless, the next four years are doing to be…interesting.