Trump’s Day 1 Executive Orders

Every newly sworn-in POTUS issues Executive Orders. In fact all incoming Presidents have to formally authorise all their Cabinet and other high level appointments and so, as is traditional, the first task once in the Oval Office at the White House, in the presence of: his newly sworn in Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, ranking Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, President Trump duly executed the first essential administrative EOs of his 2nd term as the 47th President.

Many Presidents execute a handful of symbolic EOs to kick off their Presidency in front of the gathered media and key campaign and party allies in a set piece of political theatre. But Donald Trump is no ordinary President and, having the set the tone as to what he was going to do on Day 1 in not only dozens of campaign speeches at rallies as he barnstormed across the battleground states but in stark and dramatic fashion in his Inauguration Speech after his Swearing In at the Capitol Rotunda, Trump commenced a characteristic whirlwind of celebratory functions across the capital including a large gathered crowd of supporters at the Capital One Arena sheltering in the less frigid weather  who otherwise would’ve had key positions on the steps of the Capitol beneath the traditional site of the Oath of Office being the place where the closest to the winning President are his closest allies such as party functionaries, donors, campaign staff, fund raisers, advisors and extended family who come to celebrate the Inauguration.

Breaking with tradition, Trump spoke for a while at this event after a truncated presentation of the various parade participants brought indoors and he then drew up a table and on it was stacked the next set of Executive Orders. New Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller announced the action taken in each EO to the rapturous applause of the gathered crowd. Normally the tightly choreographed EO signing ceremonies feature the President painstakingly signing the EO a little bit at a time each with a separate ceremonially embossed pen which are then distributed to staff, donors or family as mementos. Trump had so many EOs to sign and his signature is characteristically large that he favours using large thick Sharpies and he signs in one single flourish. Again, departing from tradition, Trump threw the remainder of the sharpies one by one in each direction into the adoring crowd.

But the work of Day One EO signing was far from complete. Prior to the various formal Inaugural Balls, Trump returned to the Oval Office and for 90 minutes he held an impromptu press gaggle where he answered questions from the global press and simultaneously signed dozens more EOs, most announced by Stephen Miller. Each EO gave Trump a chance to opine on the topic at hand, prompting media questions and so this goes on well into the night. I would venture to say that in that single Press availability, Trump answered more unfiltered, unrehearsed and with zero advanced warning questions than Biden answered in his entire Presidency such was the extremely tight access his staff granted to the media due to Biden’s ailing capacity.

This is the complete list of all Trump’s January 20 or Day 1 Executive Orders. They present a stunning entre into what he intends to accomplish in his second term.  Please note a number overlap in terms of purpose and intent:

  • Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions. This first EO reverses a staggering 98 of Joe Biden’s EOs executed in his first 100 days including: DEI, climate change/Green New Deal related regulations, Biden’s rescission of Trump’s federal regulation efficiency measure, extending COVID government worker boondoggles, trans gender in the military, strengthening of government unions, relaxing asylum seeker rules and the raft of measures that effectively opened the border, EV mandates, damaging and ridiculous clean air regulations, the canceling of key oil leases on the continental shelf and removing Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
  • Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government: This takes the form of a top-down review of agencies like the Department Of Justice, FCC, SEC etc. who deliberately targeted opponents of the Biden Administration.  
  • Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship: Enshrines 1st Amendment right to free speech and prohibits any branch of the Federal Government from utilising its resources to abridge the free speech of any American as was done by the Biden Administration as revealed in the Twitter files.
  • Putting America First In International Environmental Agreements: Signals US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.  
  • Application of Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to TikTok: Buys time for Trump to decide what to do with the Supreme Court upheld ban on the operation of Tik Tok in the US due to perceived data mining by the CCP.
  • Withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization
  • Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce: Restores previous Trump Admin Schedule F granting the President wider powers to fire embedded Federal employees not subject to political appointment. This power was used to remove mid-level bureaucrats who used their entrenched employment positions to resist Trump Admin edicts and initiatives as a kind of in-house ‘resistance’.
  • Clarifying The Military’s Role In Protecting The Territorial Integrity Of The United States: Re-iterates the fact that the US military can play a role in any foreign invasion. When combined with another EO declaring a National Emergency at the border, the threat of bad foreign actors and potential terrorists who crossed or are crossing the border illegally creates the kind of incursion the Federal military can be deployed to resist.  
  • Holding Former Government Officials Accountable For Election Interference And Improper Disclosure Of Sensitive Governmental Information: Removes the security clearances of the 51 former intelligence agency operatives who all signed a letter in October 2020 falsely claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation”, deemed to be interference in that election given the explosive truth about the laptop.
  • Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program: Suspends the US Refugee Admission Programme to enable it to be re-set in line with Administration goals and to prevent the questionable mass settlement in remote rural towns of tens of thousands of ‘refugees’ from foreign nations such as Haiti and Venezuela.
  • Unleashing American Energy: Wide ranging order opens up the Continental Shelf to oil/gas exploration, encourages search for rare earth metals, rolls back excessive regulations preventing energy independence, scraps the EV mandate and eliminates impending state bans on the sale of gasoline cars, safeguards consumer choices on household items such as stoves, dishwashers, light bulbs etc. – all items subject to excessive Biden Admin regulations gradually restricting freedom of choice.
  • Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship: Ends the practice of so-called Birthright Citizenship where illegals enter the US to have babies that under the Biden Admin granted ‘anchor’ citizenship to the baby that was then extended to the immediate family over time.
  • Restoring The Death Penalty And Protecting Public Safety: Reverses Biden’s moratorium on carrying out the death penalty for federal crimes.  
  • Securing Our Borders: Announces a series of border protection measures such as: recommencing the building of the border wall, ending “catch and release”, reinstating the “Stay in Mexico” programme for genuine asylum seekers, canceling the infamous CPB1 App that enabled direct entry of illegals by-passing even crossing at a border crossing like a concierge or Fast Pass service for certain illegals and other border protection measures.  
  • Declaring a National Energy Emergency: Declares an Energy Emergency which gives authority to speed up the approval of drilling and extraction of energy resources from Federal lands previously banned by the Biden Administration.  
  • Protecting The American People Against Invasion: Revokes the last of Biden Admin EOs that underpinned his opening of the border. It also authorises ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to begin the process of capturing and returning dangerous criminal illegals behind the massive violent crime wave in key US cities.  
  • Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential: This rescinds several specific Biden Admin EOs that effectively banned exploration for oil and gas in Alaska, a state very rich in energy resources. It specifically allows for exploration in both ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and the ice shelf, both mineral rich areas.
  • Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats: Sets in motion more advanced and detailed vetting of anyone now entering the country as the border is being closed.
  • Reevaluating And Realigning United States Foreign Aid: Given the large amount of wasteful, ineffective even corrupt aid, the EO places a 90 day hold on all US aid programmes whilst the OMB (Office of Management Budget), Congress’ most experienced and forensic analysts of government spending, thoroughly vets all aid.  
  • America First Policy Directive To The Secretary Of State: Gives more America First focus and direction to the incoming Secretary of State and the Department of State.  
  • Establishing And Implementing The President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency”: Establishes DOGE as a formal Agency of the US Federal Government directly reporting to POTUS. This is the agency that Elon Musk will head.  
  • Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government: Establishes that for all Federal Government matters, there are only two genders: Male and Female.  
  • Reforming The Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service: Establishes merit-based hiring as the bedrock policy for the hiring of all Federal government employees.  
  • Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing: Ends all Biden Admin EOs that implemented a myriad of intrusive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes across the Federal Government. As part of this, all Federal agencies have until 5pm 22 January to shut down their respective DEI offices.   
  • Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists: This designation gives the US military the ability to operate on domestic soil to remove and eliminate members of designated terrorist organisations. Specifically named are MS13, the notoriously violent gang originally from El Salvador and the more recent menace, the Trend de Aragua gang from Venezuela.
  • Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness: Renames key geographical areas such as: the highest peak formally Mt McKinley in Alaska, named in honour of the assassinated President but renamed Denali by President Obama in 2012. Similarly, the Gulf of Mexico is going to be renamed the Gulf of America. Other similar name changes or reversion to old names are contemplated.

As can be seen, these EOs are consequential and far reaching and provide the legal underpinning to the beginning of Trump fulfilling his oft repeated campaign pledges. It is dismaying to see the Trump hating New Zealand mainstream media focus on an alleged Nazi salute by Elon Musk (it wasn’t) and Trump’s classic overly enthusiastic touting of pioneer US nuclear efforts (e.g. first to have the bomb and first to open a commercial nuclear plant) as undermining the globally recognised first splitting of the atom efforts led by our own Earnest Rutherford. Their shock at his come-from-behind win and their long-standing antipathy means they are blind to the massive global repercussions of these Executive Orders as they pick on a throw away line of mere seconds across three lengthy speeches of considerable importance and substance lasting hours.

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