On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders, including policies recognising only two genders and withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord.

Pardons in the January 6, US Capitol attack

The president issued pardons for about 1500 people convicted or criminally charged in the attack on the US Capitol as Congress convened to certify Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump. 

Trump also ordered an end to federal cases against “political opponents” of the Biden administration — meaning Trump supporters. He said he would end “weaponisation” of federal law enforcement but his actions seemed targeted only to help his backers. 

Withdraws US from the World Health Organization

Trump is pulling the US out of the World Health Organization, accusing the global health agency of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and yielding to political influences, particularly from China.

Withdraws US from the Paris Climate Accord

Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord is aimed at dismantling what the White House has called the “climate extremism” of his predecessor, Joe Biden. The withdrawal process, which involves notifying the United Nations, will take effect after one year. This move marks Trump’s second attempt to leave the agreement, following his initial withdrawal during his first term, which was later reversed by Biden.

Trump also declared an energy emergency as he promised to “drill, baby, drill,” and said he would  eliminate what he calls Biden’s electric vehicle mandate. 

Recognizing two genders

Trump is ‘defending women from gender ideology and restoring biological truth to the federal government‘. One order declares the federal government would recognise only two sexes: male and female.

“Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination,” the order states.

Declares a national border emergency

The president declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, and he plans to send US troops to help support immigration agents and restrict refugees and asylum. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” Trump said in his inauguration speech.

Ending birthright citizenship

Trump is targeting automatic citizenship for US-born children of immigrants in the country illegally, to begin 30 days from today. It’s unclear, though, whether his order will survive inevitable legal challenges, since birthright citizenship is enshrined in the US Constitution. 

Pausing TikTok ban

Trump signed an order intended to pause Congress’ TikTok ban for 75 days, a period in which the President says he will seek a US buyer in a deal that can protect national security interests while leaving the popular social media platform open to Americans. 

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico

Trump signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, making it the Gulf of America. He also ordered that the highest mountain in North America, now known as Denali, will revert back to Mount McKinley, its name until President Barack Obama changed it.

Free speech

Trump signed an executive order that he said aimed to restore freedom of speech and end censorship. The White House said: “Over the last four 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, de-platform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve.”

More executive orders

* President Trump signed an executive order ending all federal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) programs, mandating their termination within 60 days.

* Trump reversed several immigration orders from Biden’s presidency, including one that narrowed deportation priorities to people who commit serious crimes, are deemed national security threats or were stopped at the border. It returns the government to Trump’s first-term policy that everyone in the country illegally is a priority for deportation. 

* Trump signed an order that flags must be at full height at every future Inauguration Day. The order came because former President Jimmy Carter’s death had prompted flags to be at half-mast. Trump demanded they be moved up.

* He temporarily suspended the US Refugee Admission Program, pending a review to assess the program’s “public safety and national security” implications. 

* He’s also pledged to restart a policy that forced asylum seekers to wait over the border in Mexico, but officials didn’t say whether Mexico would accept migrants again. And Trump is ending the CBP One app, a Biden-era border app that gave legal entry to nearly one million migrants. 

* The president said he expects to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting February 1 but declined to flesh out his plans for taxing Chinese imports.

 * He also ordered a comprehensive review of US foreign aid spending. Both moves fit into his more isolationist “America First” approach to international affairs. 

* The president revoked any active security clearances from a long list of his perceived enemies, including former director of national intelligence James Clapper, Leon Panetta, a former director of the CIA and defence secretary, and his own former national security adviser, John Bolton.

* Trump has halted federal government hiring, excepting the military and other parts of government that went unnamed. He added a freeze on new federal regulations while he builds out his second administration.

* He formally empowered the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is being led by Elon Musk, ostensibly an effort to streamline government. DOGE is not an official agency but Trump appears poised to give Musk wide latitude to recommend cuts in government programs and spending. 

* Trump signed a largely symbolic memorandum that he described as directing every federal agency to combat consumer inflation. By repealing Biden actions and adding his own orders, Trump is easing regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production, something he promises will bring down costs of all consumer goods. Trump is specifically targeting Alaska for expanded fossil fuel production. 

Click here to see the full list of Presidential Actions.