
The White House has released details of the 46 Executive Orders and others actions (such as proclamations and memorandums) that President Donald J. Trump has signed since becoming the 47th President of the United States of America.
Each of these Executive actions would likely be a big news story in their own right. They include:
- Cabinet and Cabinet-Level Appointments including Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defence who was narrowly confirmed by a 14-13 vote, RFK Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services on a mission to overhaul food standards and ‘Make America Healthy Again‘, and Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education who has been tasked to eliminate her own role by returning the function to the individual states.
- Sub-Cabinet Appointments who are the equivalent of the UK’s Ministers of State, that is those people who don’t sit around the cabinet table, but are one step away from it. These include the appointment of Adam Boehler to be Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, for instance.
- Acting Cabinet and Cabinet-level Appointments is a list of people who hold the roles outlined in President Trump’s first Executive Order on a temporary basis until the US Senate confirms Trump’s appointments. For example, whilst Pete Hegseth was confirmed by a Senate committee on the morning of Tuesday 21st January, he must wait until a vote of the full senate takes place before assuming his role formally.
- Chairmen and Acting Chairmen handles the appointment of leaders to bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which is particularly prevalent given President Trump’s insistence in his rallies that the USA returns to system of meritocracy over Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) frameworks.
- The fifth action was actually a Proclamation, and was the final document to be signed by President Trump immediately after he concluded his inauguration speech, which was the Flying the Flag of the United States at Full-Staff on Inauguration Day. This was due to the flag being flown at half-staff due to the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. Once inauguration day is over it will return to half-staff.
- President Trump then moved to the Capital One Arena for the inauguration parade, after which he began signing a number of executive actions, starting with an Executive Order for the Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions. In short, this was the overturning of nearly 80 executive actions undertaken by President Biden. The full list is on the White House’s website and includes removing an order for ‘Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government’, as well as removal of an order ‘Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation’, and also undoing the ‘Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Natural Gas Leasing’ as part of President Trump’s commitment to ‘drill, baby, drill!’.
- Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship came next, which ordered that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen, and takes steps to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government in this area.
- Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government is an Executive Order that requires action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government in relation to past prosecutions that the new administrations deems to be examples of the previous administration’s use of investigations and the law to prosecute opponents. The order requires the new Attorney General to carry out a review of the last 4 years and report back to the President.
- Return to In-Person Work does what it says on the tin, requiring all Federal Government workers to be in the office on a full-time basis. It does however allow for certain exemptions to be made where necessary.
- Regulatory Freeze Pending Review is a memorandum (not an Executive Order or Proclamation) circulated across the Federal Government ordering that no new regulations be added to the Federal Register (OFR) until they are approved by President Trump’s appointed heads of agencies and departments. Any pending rules must also be dropped until they can be reviewed.
- A further memorandum was issued enacting a Hiring Freeze across the Federal Government with the exception of the US Military.
- The cost of living crisis is addressed with a further memorandum titled ‘Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost of Living Crisis‘, which orders order “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“.
- ‘Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements‘ is the name of an Executive Order that withdraws the United States from the Paris Climate Accord.
- ‘Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021’ is the official name of a proclamation ensuring the release of Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola, and Jeremy Bertino. It also confers a ‘full, complete and unconditional pardon’ to all other individuals convicted of offences related to the events of January 6th 2021.
- President Trump then moved to ensure the survival of TikTok in the United States by issuing an Executive Order titled ‘Application Of Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act To TikTok‘, which still requires changes to ownership of the platform, but provides an additional 75 days to a solution to be found, which will be welcome news for the 170 million Americans who use the platform and especially the circa 7 million citizens who derive a living from it.
- ‘Withdrawing The United States From The World Health Organization‘ is another Executive Action where the title makes it clear what is happening, and although it will take some time for the withdrawal to be carried out, the order makes it clear that the President wants this done quickly. The order also revokes measures such as Executive Order 13987 of January 25, 2021 (Organizing and Mobilizing the United States Government to Provide a Unified and Effective Response to Combat COVID–19 and to Provide United States Leadership on Global Health and Security).
- Some of the Executive actions undertaken are detailed and technocratic, concerning the intricacies of how the Federal Government is run. ‘Restoring Accountability To Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce‘ is one such example, but the crux of it is about making it easier for managers and supervisors to fire under-performing government workers. It also requires a range of performance management measures and makes clear how workers should serve the President and the people. It’s an action that should be of interest to any politician on a local council for example, or our own ministers.
- Turning to the 2020 election, we have ‘Holding Former Government Officials Accountable For Election Interference And Improper Disclosure Of Sensitive Governmental Information‘ as an Executive Order that accuses at least 51 former intelligence officials of coordinating with the Biden campaign to issue a letter concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop suggesting that stories circulating were Russian disinformation, which is now known to be false. The Order also targets John Bolton and accuses him of publishing a book after he left his National Security Advisor role in 2019, which the Order alleges was ‘rife with sensitive information’. The Order removes any security clearance from the intelligence officers concerned in addition to any clearance held by John Bolton.
- A proclamation ‘Declaring A National Emergency At The Southern Border Of The United States‘ moves the US military towards the border with Mexico to reinforce and support border officials.
- A ‘Memorandum to Resolve the Backlog of Security Clearances for Executive Office of the President Personnel‘ grants security clearance for 6 months to Trump’s key people to work in the White House, slamming an unacceptable backlog created under the Biden administration.
- A further memorandum titled ‘America First Trade Policy‘ was issued, which is detailed and specific, but essentially is about “establishing a robust and reinvigorated trade policy that promotes investment and productivity, enhances our Nation’s industrial and technological advantages, defends our economic and national security, and — above all — benefits American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses.“
- Coming off the heels of the earlier proclamation about the southern border, an Executive Order ‘Clarifying The Military’s Role In Protecting The Territorial Integrity Of The United States‘ was issued in which the President confirms that the US military is expected to deliver a plan within 10 days “to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.“
- America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources, and so the ‘Unleashing American Energy‘ Executive Order sets the policy of the USA to “encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters“, and “to establish our position as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals“. The Order also eliminates the electric vehicle mandate, as well as seeking to enshrine “the American people’s freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries“
- An Executive Order ‘Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program‘ suspends all pending decisions regarding refugee status, and to only admit refugees going forwards on the basis that their admission to the USA does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.
- The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift, and so an Executive Order ‘Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship‘ has been introduced, which seeks to challenge the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, in that it argues against ‘citizenship of the soil’ or the ability of those who just so happened to be born in the USA to claim citizenship.
- The border wall is covered by the ‘Securing Our Borders‘ Executive Order, which dovetails with other executive actions taken earlier, along with measures around the deployment of personnel from Homeland Security and other physical measures to protect the border.
- The California wildfires have pushed a memorandum up the agenda, which is titled ‘Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California‘ and directs the government to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state of California for use by the people there, rather than emptying the water into the Pacific Ocean.
- It is well reported that Joe Biden is against capital punishment, and that he commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 prisoners that were awaiting execution. Therefore, the ‘Restoring The Death Penalty And Protecting Public Safety‘ Executive Order makes it clear that the policy of the USA is to “ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented, and to counteract the politicians and judges who subvert the law by obstructing and preventing the execution of capital sentences“. It also requires the Attorney General to pursue the death penalty for persons convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer, or a capital crime committed by illegal aliens.
- A memorandum ‘Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture‘ has been issued, which requires recommendations to be submitted to the President within 60 days around how “Federal public buildings should be visually identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage in order to uplift and beautify public spaces“.
- The UK has senior civil servants, whereas the USA has Career Senior Executive (SES) officials who have an enormous influence over the functioning of the Federal Government. And so, a memorandum titled ‘Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives‘ has been issued that requires performance plans to be submitted to the President within 30 days, along with a range of other measures such as terminating existing Executive Resources Boards within each agency to establish new ones staffed by people who are more aligned to the ambitions of the Trump administration.
- Energy security is addressed in the ‘Declaring a National Energy Emergency‘ Executive Order, which is lengthy but includes measures such as directing agencies “to use, to the fullest extent possible and consistent with applicable law, the emergency Army Corps permitting provisions to facilitate the Nation’s energy supply“.
- The longest title goes to the memorandum called ‘Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects‘ which effectively ends offshore wind turbines.
- An Executive Order ‘Reevaluating And Realigning United States Foreign Aid‘ has been signed, which pauses for 90 days development assistance and seeks to realign future funding so “that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.“
- Another technocratic memorandum called ‘Organization of the National Security Council and Subcommittees‘ reshapes the National Security Council and its staff, and reads similar (including the length and depth) to a constitution for the same.
- A memorandum for the Treasury has been issued called ‘The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Tax Deal (Global Tax Deal)‘ that decries the OECD Global Tax Deal supported under the previous administration as granting extraterritorial jurisdiction over American income, which it argues also restricts the US government’s ability to enact its own tax policies that service the interests of American businesses and workers. This “memorandum recaptures our Nation’s sovereignty and economic competitiveness by clarifying that the Global Tax Deal has no force or effect in the United States.“
- An Executive Order titled ‘Protecting The American People Against Invasion‘ is not about threats of invasion by other nations, but remains on the illegal immigration theme seen in earlier executive actions. This one is lengthy and details things like a requirement to “eliminate all documentary barriers, dilatory tactics, or other restrictions that prevent the prompt repatriation of aliens to any foreign state.”
- California and Alaska are the only two states that have an executive action solely aimed at them, and the ‘Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential‘ follows the theme around energy security and ‘drill, baby, drill’ seen in earlier actions. It says it is “imperative to immediately reverse the punitive restrictions implemented by the previous administration that specifically target resource development on both State and Federal lands in Alaska“.
- ‘Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats‘ is wide-ranging, and again places emphasis on the immigration agenda, but also covers enhanced vetting and screening for anyone including those coming into the country on a visa. It also includes provision for identifying how many nationals from any given country enter the USA.
- An Executive Order called ‘America First Policy Directive To The Secretary Of State‘ gives clear guidance around the ‘America First’ approach to be used on the world stage, and requires the Secretary of State to “issue guidance bringing the Department of State’s policies, programs, personnel, and operations in line with an America First foreign policy, which puts America and its interests first.“
- Elon Musks’s department is made real by the ‘Establishing And Implementing The President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency”‘ Executive Order, which states its purpose as “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.“
- As President Trump said in his inauguration speech, the USA now only recognises two genders: male and female. The ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government‘ Executive Order makes it so. It also effectively shreds a range of documents including “The White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality” and “Supporting Transgender Youth in School”.
- The ‘Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing‘ Executive Order is detailed, but includes provisions such as to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, initiatives, or programs, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.“
- Having dispensed with DEI, the President signed the ‘Reforming The Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service‘ Executive Order, which has a range of merit-promoting provisions, but notably also confers a duty to “prevent the hiring of individuals based on their race, sex, or religion, and prevent the hiring of individuals who are unwilling to defend the Constitution or to faithfully serve the Executive Branch;“
- President Trump spoke often about foreign drug gangs and cartels during his campaign, including some specific case examples that attract an emotional reaction such is the depravity that was carried out. And so, ‘Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists‘ is a strong response that aims to “ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States.“
- As we head towards the end of a mammoth signing session, the ‘Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness‘ Executive Order requires that Mount McKinlay be reinstated as the name for the USA’s highest peak, which was stripped by the Obama administration in 2015. It also requires the renaming of the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to the ‘Gulf of America’, in addition to other provisions around renaming American monuments and assets.
- The finale is a proclamation, issued in all-capitals as ‘GUARANTEEING THE STATES PROTECTION AGAINST INVASION’ which declares that the situation on the southern border is an invasion of the United States under Article IV, Section 4, of the Constitution. Using his constitutional powers, President Trump directs “that entry into the United States of such aliens be suspended until I issue a finding that the invasion at the southern border has ceased“. He also directs officials to “take all appropriate action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United States“. In short, he is sealing the border as much as possible against illegal entry.
These 46 actions represent a record number signed by an incoming President in a single day. They are detailed, and specific, as well as providing clear narrative and reasoning.
This summary of all the executive actions signed by President Donald J. Trump was compiled by Mike Rouse using publicly available information.




