In his inauguration speech, the 47th President promised to save America. On his first day in office, he is expected to sign around 200 executive orders. Among these actions, he will announce pardons for his supporters convicted for the January 6 Capitol riot, sign measures against immigrants, withdraw from the climate agreement, and curtail transgender rights "in the name of free speech."
In his inaugural address yesterday (Monday) in Washington, Donald Trump described himself as chosen by God to save America and restore its greatness. Immediately after taking the oath, he began signing a tsunami of executive orders. According to reports, he will announce pardons for some of his supporters who were prosecuted for the January 2021 Capitol riot. According to ABC, Trump plans to pardon those prosecuted for non-violent offenses and commute the sentences of Americans convicted of assaulting police officers during the Capitol unrest, allowing those who were imprisoned to walk free.
The number of executive orders Trump intends to sign immediately is expected to range between 100 and 200. Many of these orders aim to reverse decisions made by Joe Biden's administration, which Trump harshly criticized in his speech. He referred to January 20, 2025, as "Liberation Day" for American citizens.
"We now have an administration that cannot solve even simple crises at home while stumbling into a series of catastrophic events overseas. It fails to protect wonderful, law-abiding Americans and provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many of whom come from prisons and mental institutions and enter our country illegally from all over the world," Trump said, criticizing the outgoing administration.
Trump’s orders include measures against illegal immigrants, a reversal of much of Biden’s energy and climate policies, restrictions on transgender rights, and the designation of drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations."
In his speech, Trump announced his intention to "declare a national emergency at our southern border," enabling him to secure federal funding for building border walls without needing congressional approval. He plans to continue constructing the wall he promised during his first term, only a small portion of which was completed, and to halt refugee admissions.
"We will begin the process of returning millions of foreign criminals back to the places they came from," he pledged in Washington. Since his election, Trump has vowed to carry out a "mass deportation" of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. He also plans to deploy troops to the Mexican border, a move that would face immediate legal challenges due to strict U.S. laws regarding the use of military forces within the country. In his speech, he said the troops would be sent to the southern border to "repel the destructive invasion of our nation."
The incoming president also intends to issue an order revoking birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. This move clearly violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." This order is also expected to face a series of legal challenges.
Trump plans to sign an executive order declaring a "national emergency" in the energy sector, which may expedite approvals for building oil pipelines and power plants. He will reverse Biden's restrictions on vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency regulations and open federal lands in Alaska to additional oil and gas drilling. Trump will cancel numerous regulations encouraging the use of electric vehicles, end government support for charging stations, and withdraw, once again, from the Paris Climate Accord, as he did in his first term.
One particularly sensitive decision, sparking controversy, involves restricting transgender rights.
"From now on, the official policy of the United States will recognize only two genders—male and female," Trump declared during his speech. In his campaign, he promised to limit the rights of transgender individuals in the U.S. military and schools.
This policy shift is tied to Trump’s decision to sign an order ending the federal "diversity, equity, and inclusion" program. In his speech, Trump stated, "After years of unlawful federal efforts to restrict free speech, I will sign an executive order immediately halting government censorship and restoring freedom of expression in America." As part of this decision, he declared that the official U.S. policy will recognize only two genders, male and female. Another order will prevent transgender women from participating in women’s sports and prohibit the recruitment of transgender individuals into the military while removing the protections afforded to transgender individuals in prisons.
During his first term, Trump signed an executive order reducing efforts to address racial disparities in the workplace through corporate diversity training programs. Biden reversed this order on his first day in office in January 2021, and Trump is expected to reinstate his original order.
In his speech, Trump also promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico as "America’s Gulf" and reiterated his intention to bring the Panama Canal back under U.S. control, a goal he has repeatedly mentioned in recent weeks. He did not elaborate on how he plans to achieve this objective.