DONALD TRUMP WAS sworn in yesterday for his second term in office, and he used his presidential powers to sign a flurry of executive orders.

Crackdowns on immigrants, pardons for rioters and scrapping remote work all feature in the long list.

While the orders have been signed, it is expected that many will be challenged in court, therefore delaying or cancelling their implementation. However, with some of the most powerful people in the world on his side, it’s likely Trump will get his way on more than one measure. 

Here’s a rundown of some of the executive orders signed so far – and what they mean for America.

Pardon me?

In addition to granting pardons to over 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the Capitol, Trump also ordered that all pending criminal cases against Capitol riot defendants be dropped.

Among those receiving a pardon was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for directing a military-style assault on the Capitol.

Stewart Rhodes, the leader of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers, had his 18-year prison sentence commuted to time served. Both Tarrio and Rhodes had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Describing the rioters as “hostages,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that he had granted “full pardons” to hundreds of defendants.

BREAKING: President Trump signs 9 executive orders at an arena in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/sf920wtNYj

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 21, 2025

WHO?

As well as withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, Trump has removed the United States from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

He said he took the decision because of the organisation’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic” and its “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”. There are now 193 members, excluding the US.

In a statement, WHO said it will work constructively with the US and hopes Trump will reconsider his decision.

‘Illegal aliens’

Trump says he wants to protect the “meaning and value of American citizenship” by getting rid of automatic citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants.

On borders, Trump says there’s been a “large-scale invasion” over the last four years and he is concerned that the government doesn’t know the whereabouts of some of the “illegal aliens”.

As he did in his first term, Trump has committed to building a wall “and other barriers” at borders, as well as enforcing existing immigration laws.

He also signed an order to reform the laws on admitting refugees, saying the country lacks the ability to absorb the numbers arriving.

A National Emergency was also declared for the southern border, which Trump says is “overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans”.

Back to work

One executive order instructs all government departments and agencies to get rid of remote working and require employees to return to in-person work on a full-time basis.

In a separate order, Trump hit out at the “broken” federal hiring process, which he says no longer prioritises merit, but rather “illegal racial discrimination under the guise of ‘equity’,” and a commitment to “the invented concept of ‘gender identity’ over sex.”

Now, he says, recruiters will prioritise people who are “committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government” and ” passionate about the ideals of our American republic”. He says they also won’t hire people “based on their race, sex, or religion”.

That’s in tandem with other orders that target “illegal and immoral” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

Two sexes

In a complete contradiction to the above, Trump said the acceptance of transgender people interferes with “sex-based opportunities”, which he believes should be protected.

“Invalidating the true and biological category of ‘woman’ improperly transforms laws and policies designed to protect sex-based opportunities into laws and policies that undermine them, replacing longstanding, cherished legal rights and values with an identity-based, inchoate social concept,” the order reads.

He wants to “defend women’s rights” by only allowing the legal acknowledgement of two sexes – male and female – and no legal acknowledgement of gender identity.

Tick-tock TikTok

After a brief ban on TikTok, sparked by national security concerns, Trump has ‘saved’ the popular app.

The new president says the ban will be paused for 75 days or until a plan of action that keeps the video-sharing platform live but also protects Americans from “any foreign adversary” can be decided on.

‘Drill, baby, drill’

President Trump says he is declaring "a national energy emergency" on his first day in office, citing energy prices as a cause of inflation.

"We will drill, baby, drill," he says.

"We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do… pic.twitter.com/KTd9qBNNrQ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 20, 2025

Trump announced that the US would withdraw from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

In addition, Trump vowed to reverse offshore drilling bans, unpause permits for liquefied natural gas facilities, and resume drilling on protected land in Alaska.

It’s part of a National Energy Emergency he declared, which will give departments the power to possess resources for the purpose of expanding domestic energy supplies.

He plans to scrap vehicle emissions standards that amount to an “electric vehicle mandate,” and vowed to halt offshore wind farms, a frequent target of his scorn.