Within hours of taking over as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders which included crackdown on illegal immigration and ending birthright citizenship.
President Trump also pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Treaty, and issued order for the withdrawal of the country from the World Health Organisation (WHO). President Trump revoked 78 of Biden administration decisions, pardoning 1,500 defendants charged in the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021.
The following are some of the key decisions taken by Trump on Day One of his second term as the US President:
Birthright citizenship of the US is revoked
One of the most prominent executive orders signed by President Trump in his second innings was revoking birthright citizenship. This set in motion a move to end the automatic citizenship of children born in the US to non-citizen parents.
The executive order signed by Trump specifies that for a child born in the US to gain citizenship, at least one parent must be a US citizen, a legal permanent resident (green card holder), or a member of the US military. “The federal Government will not recognise automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States. We are also going to enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens,” said a Trump official in a briefing later.
Withdraws from World Health Organisaton
The President signed an order for the United States to exit the World Health Organisation, insisting Washington was unfairly paying more than China into the UN body.
According to the order, the US was withdrawing from the organisation due to its “mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
The new President also paused the disbursement of US foreign development assistance for 90 days. The move left millions of dollars in aid in limbo.
Quits the Paris Accord The President immediately withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, repeating an action he took during his first term. The order extends Trump’s defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide. It would take a year to leave the agreement after submitting a formal notice to the United Nations framework that underpins global climate negotiations.
Only two genders now
In a major announcement just after being sworn in, Trump declared that it will be the official policy of the United States to recognise only two genders–male and female. Trump said his administration will work to make a “merit-based” and “colourblind society.” The move is part of Trump’s plans to change the US Government’s policies on gender and diversity, especially targeting Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) programmes.
Several US companies, including McDonald’s, Walmart and Facebook parent company Meta, have ended or scaled back their DEI programmes since Trump was elected in November last.
Revokes 50-pc EV target
The President has revoked a 2021 executive order signed by his predecessor Joe Biden that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the United States by 2030 were electric. In an executive order, Trump said he was halting distribution of unspent Government funds for vehicle charging stations from a $5-billion fund, called for ending a waiver for states to adopt zero emission vehicle rules by 2035 and said his administration would consider ending EV tax credits.
75-day relief for TikTok
President Trump ordered a 75-day pause on enforcing a law that would effectively ban video-hosting platform TikTok. His action delayed the implementation of an Act that came into effect recently, prohibiting the distribution and updating of TikTok in the United States. Trump has said the app’s Chinese parent company must agree to sell a 50 per cent share to the United States.
OTHER KEY MOVES
Accusing Mexico and Canada of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the United States, Trump said, “We’re thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada because they’re allowing vast numbers of people.” Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump took aim at trade imbalances with the European Union too, saying it did not import enough American products. He said he would “straighten that out” by using tariffs.
In his inaugural speech, Trump repeated his complaint that China was effectively “operating” the Panama Canal, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999. “We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” Trump said.
Trump revoked sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank accused of abuses against Palestinians, undoing an unprecedented action taken by the Biden administration. Reversing another one of Biden’s more recent moves, Trump removed Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism. Biden had removed Cuba from the list only days earlier as part of a deal to free prisoners.
