Donald Trump wasted no time getting to work in the White House during the first week of his new term, immediately issuing a series of executive orders shortly after his inauguration.
Within the initial seven days of his second presidency, Trump made significant changes in the country by implementing stricter immigration policies, rescinding laws put in place by Joe Biden, and easing restrictions on artificial intelligence.
To kick off his second term, the president took swift action by signing executive orders and revoking approximately 80 of Biden’s major legislations during his Inauguration Day celebration in Washington DC.
Trump ordered federal workers to return to the office full-time and pardoned the sentences of those convicted in the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.
To further dismantle the Biden regime, Trump signed an executive order helping states get lethal injection drugs for executions.
Biden temporarily paused federal executions in 2021 and commuted 37 death row sentences to life in prison just before Christmas.
GENDER LAWS
Trump also repealed several Biden-era rules regarding equity and LGBTQ rights, including laws preventing government discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
He signed an order declaring the US government would only acknowledge a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The move forces the government to only recognize male or female on official documents, meaning Americans can’t mark “other” or “X” on federal forms anymore.
KILLING DEI
Trump also signed an executive order gutting all diversity, equality, and inclusion government programs within 60 days.
DEI initiatives set out to promote fair treatment of underrepresented groups
He also removed protections for transgender troops as he’s expected to ban them from serving in the military.
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
Hours after being sworn in, Trump made major changes to America’s international agreements by withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.
He also pulled out of the World Health Organization in a move condemned by scientists and health experts.
It’s the second time in less than five years that Trump has taken the US out of the organization, which he blasted as “misleading” in 2020.
IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
Trump ramped up his crackdown on undocumented immigrants by declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border as soon as he took office.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out raids in at least 12 cities across the US on Sunday and said officers made 956 arrests, marking the largest number of single-day arrests.
Border czar Tom Homan vowed arrests and deportations will “steadily increase.”
“Right now, it’s concentrating on public safety threats, national security threats,” Homan told ABC News’ This Week.
“That’s a smaller population.”
THREATENING COLOMBIA
Trump showed immigration as a major priority for his administration by also threatening tariffs and sanctions on Colombia to punish the nation for refusing to accept military jets carrying deportees.
He revealed his plan to impose a 25% tariff on Colombian imports and immediately revoke the visas of government officials if they didn’t accept migrants.
The threat worked, forcing Colombia to accept the migrants after Colombian President Gustavo Petro previously stopped two US military aircraft from landing in the country on Sunday.
After Colombia caved, Trump posted a defiant AI picture on Truth Social to celebrate.
AI DOMINANCE
Following his inauguration, Trump quickly moved to peel back a 2023 executive order that put limits on artificial intelligence.
On Thursday, he issued an executive order mandating his staff to find a policy plan to “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.”
He’s now championing a $500 billion project called StarGate with AI leaders OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle with hopes of curing cancer and creating thousands of jobs.
“These world-leading technology giants are announcing the formation of Stargate,” Trump said.
“So put that name down in your books, because I think you’re going to hear a lot about it in the future — a new American company that will invest $500 billion at least in AI infrastructure in the United States.”
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said the order marked “the beginning of the Golden Age of America.”
“Artificial superintelligence will come to solve the issues that mankind never, ever have thought that we could solve,” he added.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Trump’s executive orders were just beginning as he’s set to sign off on a nationwide missile defense system.
The plan would create an American version of Israel’s Iron Dome shield, which shoots down incoming threats like drones.
“Today, there are more executive orders coming that we fully support,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday.
“On removing DEI inside the Pentagon, reinstating troops who were pushed out because of COVID mandates, Iron Dome for America,” he said.
“This is happening quickly.”
