Donald Trump signed several executive orders on his inauguration day on Monday. It wasn’t just the sheer number that was unusual — Trump signed several presidential orders in front of thousands of cheering fans at a red desk at Capital One Arena. Crowds of Trump supporters gathered at the venue to watch a livestream of the inauguration and then celebrate their presidency in person.
Typically, the incoming US President signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, which Trump then follows up with more orders.
Executive orders are directives that the President issues without consulting Congress, which is in charge of passing routine legislation. The President can bypass the House and Senate by issuing his directives directly to federal officials.
“Executive orders set the framework for action [federal] agencies,” Michelle Egan, a professor of politics, governance and economics at American University in Washington, DC, told DW via email.
However, executive orders can be challenged in court – and even overturned by the next president. “The president signing these orders has become an important form of governance, but it’s also easily overturned,” Egan said.
What executive orders did Donald Trump sign on day one?
The first executive order Trump signed with a Sharpie as the 47th President of the United States was to rescind 78 rules established by his predecessor Joe Biden. Other directives signed at the Capitol One Arena included an order for all federal departments and agencies to address the cost-of-living crisis, as well as an order to halt government censorship.
He also signed an executive order stating that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and later signed a directive at the White House indicating that the US would withdraw from the World Health Organization.
University of Virginia Center for Politics election analyst J. “Many Trump voters are skeptical of political organizations and institutions, so we saw some early bones in that group with two major withdrawals,” Miles Coleman told DW.
Immigration, one of Trump’s biggest campaign themes, was also part of several executive orders on the first day. The president declared a national emergency at the U.S. border with Mexico to help the government take control of what Trump is calling a catastrophic situation and stop the “invasion” of undocumented immigrants he said would begin during Biden’s presidency. It happened under.
Another big talking point during Trump’s campaign, the issue of LGBTQ+ rights, was on the list of directives he signed on Monday. The order states that as per US policy, there will be only two genders, male and female, with non-binary or diverse options no longer in existence. The order directed federal agencies to rescind policies issued under President Biden that had made it easier for transgender people to update their gender markers on federal identification.
What do Trump’s instructions mean for America?
The executive orders Trump signed on his first day in office reflect the president’s priorities.
“I think this [culture war] “The issues will be prominent in the early days of the new administration and the early days of the new Congress,” Craig Saperstein, partner in the public policy practice of international law firm Pillsbury, told DW.
Additionally, not all of Trump’s executive orders from Day 1 bring immediate change for the country. For example, the withdrawal from the World Health Organization will take a year to take effect. Amy Ghosh, Saperstein’s fellow government law expert, says it will take some time for Americans to feel the consequences of some of the other orders, too.
Ghosh explains that Trump can sign an order declaring a national emergency, but the policies he wants to see implemented will have to go through a multi-step process at the federal agencies in charge.
“The details of how this will all unfold are really important, because a lot can change in terms of who will be affected, the timing and whether there are any exceptions,” Ghosh, who is also a partner at Pillsbury, told DW. “Some things may happen immediately on day one, but a lot of executive orders [Trump signed] “Must go through studies, reviews and other administrative processes.”
Trump signs pardon to January 6 rioters
On Monday in the Oval Office, Trump signed an order to pardon nearly all of the 1,600 defendants who stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop the transfer of power on January 6, 2021. Earlier in the night at Capital One Arena, he had already talked about his plan to pardon those he calls the “hostages of January 6th.”
Trump made these remarks while standing in front of Israelis whose family members were taken hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas while they were at home with their loved ones or at a concert during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Were celebrating at the function.
The Americans whom Trump has repeatedly referred to as “J6 hostages” include hundreds of defendants who have confessed to their January 6 criminal offenses under oath, and others who have been convicted by a judge or jury .
It is a rare sight to see an American President sign a large number of pardons on his first day in office.
“Pardons are generally thought of as something that happens at the end of an administration,” Ghosh said. “But for President Trump, if you’ve been paying attention to everything he’s said since the campaign and the election, it’s not surprising that a pardon [were] Going to be a part of the agenda of the first day. Because that was really a big part of his reasoning as to why he was running for office again.”
Edited by: John Silk