Updated January 20, 2025 at 20:24 PM ET
President Trump on Monday signed a flurry of executive orders, memorandums and proclamations after his inauguration, reversing many of his predecessors' policies and reinstating actions from his first term in office.
He signed the first batch in front of a packed crowd at Capital One Arena, drawing cheers, before then moving to the Oval Office to sign more.
Trump and his officials also signaled a slew of other executive actions to come soon, ranging from campaign priorities like border security to culture war issues like DEI policies.
Here are some of the key orders either signed or signaled on Monday.
Jan. 6 pardons
Trump issued pardons Monday for some 1,500 defendants who participated in the siege on the U.S. Capitol four years ago, wiping away scores of convictions for people who helped delay the certification of the 2020 election and upend the peaceful transfer of power.
Trump also said at the Oval Office he would commute the sentences of a number of people, without offering immediate details.
"We hope they come out tonight," he said.
Pausing the TikTok ban
Trump signed an order pausing a law that would ban the mega-popular social media app TikTok unless its China-based parent company spun off its U.S.-based operations.
The bipartisan divest-or-ban law passed Congress in April 2024 and was signed into law by then-President Biden. Trump himself sought to ban the app during his first term in 2020, but that effort was blocked by the courts.
"I am instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans," Trump's order states.
Undoing Biden executive actions
Another order rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions, orders and presidential memoranda. They include a wide variety of actions related to racial equality, climate, migration and gender policy; the federal workforce; and Biden's recent move to take Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Inflation
Another executive order directs "the heads of all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law, to the American people and increase the prosperity of the American worker."
Speaking at Capital One Arena, Trump said this order would help "defeat inflation and rapidly bring down the cost of daily life."
Immigration
Trump signed executive orders making sweeping changes to immigration and border security. They include:
Declaring a national emergency at the border: Trump signed an order declaring "that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States," and allowing for the deployment of armed forces and the National Guard to respond.
"Clarify" the military's role in border security: This action directs the military to "prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders." This includes "by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities."
Ending "catch and release," continue building the wall, and end "Remain in Mexico": A sweeping order on "Securing Our Borders" calls for establishing "physical barriers" at the border, ending the practice known as "catch-and-release" and reinstituting a policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claim is processed.
Designating criminal cartels as terrorists: This order defines drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, in order to expedite the removal of members of groups like Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela, and MS-13.
Suspending refugee resettlement: Trump signed an order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Ending birthright citizenship: Trump signed an order that would end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents without legal status. The order argues that the 14th Amendment, which enshrines birthright citizenship, does not extend to individuals who are born in the country but not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." This action is likely to see immediate legal challenges.
Enhance vetting and screening: This order instructs federal agencies to "vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks."
"Protect American citizens against invasion": This order instructs federal agencies to use "all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens."
Restore the death penalty
Trump signed an order reinstating the federal death penalty, instructing the attorney general to "pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use." In particular, it calls for the death penalty to be sought in all cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer, and all capital crimes committed by immigrants without legal status.
"Weaponization of government"
Trump signed an order "ending the weaponization of the federal government."
Trump and his allies have long claimed that the Justice Department under former President Biden was weaponized against him, citing the various legal cases against him, and other conservatives.
DOJ prosecutors wound down the two federal criminal cases against Trump after he won the 2024 election, following longstanding department precedent. In a report on the government's election interference case released last week, special counsel Jack Smith said the evidence against Trump would have led to his conviction at trial — if not for his election victory that led to charges being dropped.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to punish, prosecute or jail his political enemies. Trump has repeatedly indicated that he would use federal law enforcement as part of a campaign to exact "retribution."
Federal workforce
Trump signed a "freeze on all federal hiring, excepting the military and a number of other excluded categories." At Capital One Arena, Trump told his supporters the temporary pause would "ensure that we're only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public."
He also signed an order requiring federal workers to return to the office in person, and a "regulatory freeze" preventing the creation of new federal regulations.
Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord
Trump signed an order titled, "Putting America first in international environmental agreements," which included withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord.
Trump previously withdrew from the Paris accords during his first term, but Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021.
Defining 'sex' and ending DEI programs
Trump signed an executive action Monday night dealing with gender identity. The details weren't immediately made public; however, an incoming White House official speaking on background had told reporters earlier in the day that an order would make it the policy of the United States to recognize two biologically distinct sexes — male and female.
"These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality," the official said.
The change will require government agencies to use the definitions on documents like passports, visas and employee records the official said. Taxpayer funds will not be allowed to be used for "transition services," the official said.
A second action will end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, the official said, giving as examples environmental justice programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as diversity training.
Energy and climate
Trump intends to declare a national energy emergency, aiming to cut red tape and regulations for the energy industry, and a second one specific to Alaskan resources, an incoming White House official told reporters on a background conference call.
"That national energy emergency will unlock a variety of different authorities that will enable our nation to quickly build again, to produce coal and natural resources, to create jobs, to create prosperity and to strengthen our nation's national security," the official said. The official said energy prices are too high, but declined on the call to name a lower target price.
The action will end what incoming Trump officials call the "electric vehicle mandate" and will end "efforts to curtail consumer choice on the things that consumers use every single day, whether it be showerheads, whether it be gas stoves, whether it be dishwashers and the like," the official said.
Trump has long railed against energy efficiency standards on the campaign trail, and specifically taken aim at "electric vehicle mandates," a term he uses to encompass all policies designed to encourage a transition to battery-powered cars. Rules actually requiring 100% of vehicles to be electric do not exist on the federal level.
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