The key executive orders issued by Donald Trump so far

Donald Trump signed a sweeping set of executive orders shortly after taking office from ending birthright citizenship to freeing the January 6 rioters. Here’s what he did on day one.

The Wall Street Journal

2 min read

1:34PMJanuary 22, 2025.

Updated 2:57PMJanuary 22, 2025

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping set of executive orders shortly after taking office.

Here’s a look at his some of his most significant actions:

Ending birthright citizenship

On his first day in office, Trump enacted several immigration-related executive orders, including one that would move to end recognition of automatic birthright citizenship.

On Tuesday, attorneys general from more than a dozen states filed a lawsuit stating that the order violates the 14th Amendment.

Gregory Purdy, a January 6 defendant, hugs friends he calls his "Patriot sisters" after his release from the DC Central Detention Facility where he was incarcerated for the 2021 attack on the Capitol, in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

January 6 pardons

Trump indicated Monday that he granted full pardons to nearly all defendants involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and commuted the sentence of six.

Halting federal government DEI programs

The president has signed an order to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government.

Gender identity

The president instituted a policy recognising individuals’ biological sex rather than their expressed gender identity.

Going forward, it will “be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said.

Trump declared in his executive orders that there will only be two genders in the government’s official policy. Picture: AFP

Trade and tariffs

Trump said he was aiming to place 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1.

Trump made the comment even as he plans to direct federal agencies to analyse federal trade practices and policies with China and North American allies, saying he isn’t ready to move ahead with universal tariffs on goods from around the world.

Pausing the TikTok ban

Trump signed an executive order giving more time for TikTok to work out a deal to prevent a ban in the US.

A document posted on the White House website says Trump was instructing the attorney general not to enforce the ban “for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward”.

Withdrawing from the Paris climate accord

The president signed orders withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and revoked several executive orders related to the previous administration’s efforts to fight climate change.

Trump’s "golden age" dominated headlines in Japan’s newspapers. Picture: AFP

Declaring a national energy emergency

President Trump also declared a national energy emergency, an action that will enable the federal government to slash permitting requirements for energy projects, fast-track power plant construction and loosen curbs on fossil-fuel exports.

Withdrawing from the World Health Organisation

The president followed through on a pandemic-era pledge to withdraw the US from WHO.

In his first term, Trump moved to pull the US out of the WHO in July 2020, after calling the United Nations agency “a puppet of China”.

Former president Joe Biden reversed it on his first day in office in January 2021.

‘Weaponisation’ of federal government

Trump ordered the attorney general to review the work of all law-enforcement agencies to determine whether any of their moves over the past four years constituted a “weaponisation” of the federal government.

He told the director of national intelligence to similarly examine the intelligence community’s activities.