President Donald J. Trump swiftly implemented his agenda during his first week in office through a series of executive orders. The directives—nearly 40 in total—impact a range of federal policy areas, including immigration, environmental regulation, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, lawfare, and health research.
Among the more ambitious executive orders is an attempt to change birthright citizenship, which has already drawn two separate Democrat-backed legal challenges. President Trump also moved to reverse former President Joe Biden’s restrictions on oil exploration and withdrew federal support for discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and transgender-related directives.
The executive orders vary in scope and authority and are classified as memorandums, proclamations, or directives, each carrying different levels of impact. Memorandums offer guidance but hold less authority, whereas other executive orders require publication in the Federal Register and carry significant weight.
The sweeping nature of these changes underscores the pivotal shift in federal policy direction. The National Pulse has compiled a list of Trump’s major executive orders with brief summaries of what each directive does.
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- Unleashing American Energy: This order reverses Biden government environmental orders, ends electric vehicle mandates, and reopens energy exploration on federal land and in federal waters.
- Declaring a National Energy Emergency: Directs federal agencies to identify emergency authorities to facilitate energy projects, including the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas production and pipeline construction.
- Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements: Withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords.
- Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential: Ends Biden government restrictions on natural gas, mining, drilling, and road building in Alaska.
- Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government: Orders agency officials to investigate legal and regulatory actions that appear to be politically motivated.
- Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce: Reinstitutes the Schedule F designation for federal employees, allowing career officials to be removed from policy-sensitive roles.
- Holding Former Government Officials Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Governmental Information: Revokes the security clearances for a number of intelligence and national security officials who interfered in the 2020 election by claiming the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation and others—like John Bolton—who have profited from the disclosure of sensitive information.
- Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service: Directs agencies to prioritize hiring individuals focused on government efficiency and dedicated to the values of the American Republic.
- Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing: Ends federal DEI programs, with similar requirements for federal contractors.
- Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government: Federally recognizes two sexes—male and female—and bars the use of federal funds to promote “gender ideology.”
- Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department Of Government Efficiency’: Renames the U.S. Digital Service to the Department of Government Efficiency and directs the program to recruit private-sector talent to aid in streamlining government services and technology.
- Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness: Directs the Secretary of the Interior to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, as well as rename Alaska’s Denali mountain to Mount McKinley.
- Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship: Bars federal officials from interfering with the First Amendment rights of Americans and directs the Attorney General to investigate Biden government collusion with social media companies aimed at censoring Americans online.
- America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State: Directs the State Department to advance an “America First” foreign policy and place the interests of American citizens above all other considerations.
- Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid: Enacts a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid and assistance programs and directs administration officials to review each to ensure they align with American foreign policy priorities.
- Withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization: Begins the process to end U.S. involvement with and funding of the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States: Directs the United States Northern Command to seal the U.S. southern border in order to prevent mass illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
- Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program: Places a freeze on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, allowing entry only on a case-by-case basis.
- Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship: Clarifies that children born in the United States whose parents are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents do not automatically receive American citizenship.
- Securing Our Borders: Restarts construction of the border wall and directs federal law enforcement to assist in pursuing illegal immigrants.
- Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety: Orders the Attorney General to resume pursuing the death penalty whenever applicable in federal cases and to seek the death penalty against illegal immigrants accused of capital crimes.
- Protecting the American People Against Invasion: Directs federal agencies to begin the mass deportation of illegal immigrants and authorizes civil fines and funding cuts for sanctuary cities.
- Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists: Directs the Secretary of State to determine whether to declare Mexican drug cartels and other transnational criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations—opening the criminal groups to potential U.S. military action.
- Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats: Orders more intensive screening programs for individuals seeking entry to the United States for potential foreign terrorism ties.
- Application of Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to TikTok: Grants a 75-day delay in a potential federal ban on the Chinese-owned social media app, TikTok, pending a potential sale.
- Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions: Reverses 78 executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden.
- Designation of Ansar Allah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization: Redesignates Yemen’s Houthi rebel group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
- Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence: Revokes Biden government barriers to artificial intelligence development.
- Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Orders the declassification of remaining documents pertaining to the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK.
- Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology: Directs federal officials to advance regulatory policies that will promote digital assets like cryptocurrency and bars the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
- Enforcing the Hyde Amendment: Reinstitutes the Hyde Amendment, which bars the federal funding of abortion.
- Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas: Directs federal agencies to report to the White House within 15 days on measures needed “to ensure adequate water resources in Southern California” in response to the ongoing wildfires.
- Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency: Creates the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council to investigate and review recent actions by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
- The Iron Dome for America: Orders the development of a missile defense shield to protect the United States from aerial attacks.
- Restoring America’s Fighting Force: Abolishes DEI programs in the U.S. military and ends sex and race-based preference policies.
- Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness: Prohibs transgender individuals from serving in the military.
- Reinstating Service Members Discharged Under The Military’s COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate: Reinstates military personnel dismissed or fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccination.
- Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation: Bars the federal government from funding, sponsoring, promoting, assisting, or supporting “the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”