President Donald Trump set expectations mighty high for day one executive orders, but Inauguration Day ceremonies and traditions leave little time for anything else – especially when you are the star of the show. Why not make the signing of a few of those orders a part of the schedule, then? At a little after 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, in front of an enthusiastic crowd in the Capital One Arena in D.C., the 47th president of the United States sat down to sign a handful of presidential actions before traveling to the White House, where he would sign multiple others.
The first executive order, not surprisingly, revoked Biden-era executive orders and actions – 78 of them, to be precise, affecting a range of issues. Next, Trump put his signature on a regulatory freeze until the Trump administration is fully in control. An additional order enforced a temporary government hiring freeze and another requires all federal employees to return to in-person work.
Perhaps the biggest actions signed in that public setting was America’s withdrawal – again – from the Paris Agreement, also known as the Paris Climate Accord, and two orders that strike at the heart of divisive Biden administration domestic policy. One of those orders terminates government censorship efforts – the scale of which was exposed after the Biden administration put relentless pressure on social media platforms to suppress information and opinions it didn’t like.
The other is aimed at ending the previous administration’s political weaponization of government. This order teases potential accountability for some, perhaps: “It is the policy of the United States to identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community.”
Trump also signed a directive that all executive branch departments and agencies address the high cost of living with which most Americans have struggled since almost the first days of the Biden presidency.
Once back to the Oval Office, the president signed a stack of additional executive orders. This time, the audience was made up of reporters, some from foreign news outlets. As Trump continued signing, he fielded questions, often providing lengthy and candid answers in a friendly and conversational tone.
Major Executive Orders Mirror Campaign Pledges
A great many of the executive actions dealt with illegal immigration and border security, including an emergency declaration at the southern border. Several more dealt with unleashing America’s energy potential and rolling back “green energy” initiatives. One of those executive orders declares a “national energy emergency,” which will give the nascent administration the tools to avoid the most restrictive measures Joe Biden took against the fossil fuel industry – upon which America and the world still relies.
Trump also signed an order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
A big one – much anticipated even though a lot of people were not sure it would happen, or not immediately – was the pardoning or commuting of sentences for some 1500 Jan. 6 protesters. One of the reporters present asked if protesters who had injured police officers deserved clemency. Trump, in response, pointed out that most of the detained demonstrators had already been imprisoned for a long time, compared to violent criminals and even murderers who, during the Biden years, served no more than a couple of years, if that.
Another of the most anticipated executive orders implements protections for women from so-called “gender ideology.” During his inauguration address, President Trump asserted that it was now U.S. government policy to recognize only two “genders” – male and female.
And, of course, the “Department of Government Efficiency” was officially established.
The 47th president is off to a flying start, as he had promised. In stark contrast to the past four years, Americans may have to pay closer attention, now – just to keep up with the force of nature that has just returned to the nation’s capital.
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