Donald Trump’s Day One Executive Orders

President Donald Trump set expectations high for day one executive orders. The various ceremonies and traditions of Inauguration Day leave little time for anything else – especially for the president being inaugurated. Still, President Trump managed to include them in the day’s festivities. At a little after 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, in front of an enthusiastic crowd in the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, 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.

Getting Started on Day One

The first executive order 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 his 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. President Barack Obama signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, but President Trump signed an order to withdraw from the agreement in 2019, which took effect in 2020. President Joe Biden then resigned the agreement in 2021.

Donald Trump also signed a directive on Inauguration Day 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 answers in a friendly and conversational tone.

Major Executive Orders Were Expected

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.”

Trump also signed an order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and pardoned about 1,500 Jan. 6 protesters. 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 US government policy to recognize only two “genders” – male and female.

The 47th president is off to a flying start, as he had promised.

1. Donald Trump signed numerous executive orders on Inauguration Day, his first day as president again.
2. Many of the orders focused on undoing the work of former President Joe Biden and focused energy and immigration policy.
3. President Trump removed the United States from both the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement.