What Trump’s executive orders actually mean as he signs off major policies less than 24 hours after becoming president
On Monday (20 January), Donald Trump was officially sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
On his first day in the presidential role, the 78-year-old Republican signed a flurry of executive orders including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as changes to birthright citizenship and delaying the TikTok ban.
In his inaugural address, Trump - who is the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency - promised that 'all illegal entry will be halted' and that millions of 'criminal aliens' will be deported.
What are executive orders?
In short, executive orders are legally-binding written orders to the federal government that do not require congressional approval.
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Presidents often issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors and Trump was no exception as he rescinded 78 orders and actions signed by his Democrat predecessor, Joe Biden.
Many of Trump's measures are likely to draw Democratic opposition.
How common are executive orders?
Very common.
There have been several thousand executive orders made throughout US history, according to data collected by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States who served from 1789 to 1797, signed just eight executive orders.
During his first term back in 2016, Trump signed 220 while Biden signed 160 as of 20 December 2024.
Both Congress and the courts can potentially block executive orders.
But what do Trump’s executive orders actually mean now he's signed off a series of major policies less than 24 hours after becoming president?
Pardoned the January 6 rioters
Trump has signed pardons for around 1,500 defendants who took part in the US Capitol riots back in January 2021, following Biden's election victory.
An executive order on The White House's website reads: "This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation."
Limiting automatic birthright citizenship
Trump has signed an order to try and limit automatic birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.
Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the US is automatically a citizen, with an order from The White calling US citizenship a 'a priceless and profound gift'.
It adds that a person will not receive 'automatic' citizenship if 'that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth' or 'that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth'.
Delayed TikTok ban
Trump has also signed an executive order delaying the ban of TikTok in the States by 75 days, to allow the platform to comply with a law that requires the sale of the app.
US officials have described TikTok and its parent company ByteDance as ‘a national security threat of immense depth and scale’, accusing them of having links to China - which both have denied.
Congress had already passed the law to ban the app in April, having offered ByteDance the choice to either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner or face a total shutdown.
This led to the app going dark as users were issued with a message which read: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned."
Creating a policy which recognises only 'two genders'
An executive order was announced that only recognises 'two sexes, male and female', further claiming they aren't 'changeable' but 'grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality'.
The order said: "Agencies shall remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology, and shall cease issuing such statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications or other messages.
"Agency forms that require an individual’s sex shall list male or female, and shall not request gender identity. Agencies shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology."
Withdrawn from WHO
In a historical move, Trump has signed an order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The new president has claimed that WHO 'mishandled' the coronavirus pandemic as well as 'other global health crises', while an order further claims that WHO 'continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments'.
It adds: "China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO. "
“World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” he said on Monday (20 January).
Revoked a 2023 executive order to reduce the risks of AI
Trump also revoked an executive order signed by Biden in a bid to reduce the risks from artificial intelligence (AI), Reuters reports.
The original order required developers to share the results of safety trials with the government, if their software posed risks to things like security or public health.
Disabled CBP One
The CBP One app was shut down pretty much as soon as Trump was inaugurated. The app was set up by Joe Biden to help facilitate migrants entering the US. For example, it allowed migrants to notify the government of their intentions to arrive and organised appointments for processing.
According to Associated Press, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Monday that the app would no longer be able to admit migrants, leading to tens of thousands of appointments scheduled in February being cancelled.
Changes for federal workers
Trump has ordered federal workers to return to the office full-time, requiring staff to 'return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis' with immediate effect, according to the executive order.
Changes to energy production and the Paris Climate Agreement
In another huge move, Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Climate Agreement - again. The US will now join Iran, Yemen and Libya - the only nations not part of the agreement, which Trump has previously called a 'rip off'.
"We will drill, baby, drill," he said at his inauguration (via the BBC), adding: "We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it."
The new president also declared a 'national energy emergency' that could allow new powers to increase energy production.
"The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices," he added, as per Reuters.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America'
Trump has also signed an executive order to change the name 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America', with his executive order stating: "It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes."
At a press conference earlier this month, he said: "We're going to be announcing at a future date, really soon, we're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
"It covers a lot of territories... the Gulf of America, what a beautiful name. And it's appropriate."
Topics: Donald Trump, Celebrity, Politics, US News, News, World News
Rhiannon Ingle