By News On Air Jan 21, 2025
President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive actions, revoking 78 of Joe Biden’s policies, hours after returning to the White House. Trump signed an order seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship for children of people not in the country legally, as well as those in the country legally but only temporarily, such as tourists, students, and those on work visas. Agencies have been given 30 days to implement the order.
In one of the major orders, President Trump directed the withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO). In his order, Trump cited a string of reasons for the withdrawal, including the global health agency’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to adopt urgently needed reforms. Trump accused the WHO of being biased towards China in how it issued guidance during the outbreak.
Mr. Trump also signed an order to begin the process of withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. He also invoked emergency powers to expand US energy production by reversing climate-related policies and facilitating oil, gas, and mining activities.
President Trump also officially ended the automatic citizenship of children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents. It says for a child born in the U.S. to gain citizenship, at least one parent must be a U.S. citizen, a legal permanent resident (green card holder), or a member of the U.S. military.
Donald Trump directed federal agencies to review tariffs and trade relations with China, Mexico, and Canada, hinting at imposing tariffs up to 25 percent on Mexico and Canada by February 1st.
Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and ordered the deployment of troops to address what he called a disastrous invasion.
Trump signed an executive action that delayed enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days. The law gives the president broad discretion on how to enforce the ban on the Chinese-owned video app.
On energy policy, Trump declared a national energy emergency, lifting restrictions on mining and encouraging fossil fuel production. He said America would capitalise on its vast oil and gas reserves to become a dominant manufacturing nation.
In other decisions, he ended work-from-home policies for federal employees. The order requires employees to return to in-person work full-time, with exemptions allowed at the discretion of department heads.
Another significant executive order aimed to restore freedom of speech and end federal censorship. In a controversial move, Trump signed an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He also introduced a policy recognising only two genders—male and female—within the United States. Additionally, Trump ended the Biden administration’s Green Policy on electric vehicles, shifting focus back to traditional energy sources. Trump used his presidential powers to pardon over 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. He justified this as addressing perceived injustices by the previous administration.