Inauguration Day updates: Donald Trump becomes 47th U.S. president
5 hours ago
President Donald Trump has begun his promised flurry of executive action on Day 1. With his first batch of memoranda and orders, Trump repealed dozens of former President Joe Biden’s actions, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords, put a temporary freeze on new federal regulations and commanded federal law enforcement to end all cases and investigations of any Trump supporters, among other actions. Trump, meanwhile, has additional executive orders awaiting his signature as he returns to the White House for the first time since his swearing-in earlier in the day. Those documents would end diversity, equity and inclusion funding, crack down on border crossings and ease regulations on oil and natural gas production. The Republican has promised dozens of actions, though it’s unclear whether he’ll make good on his pledge to do them all on his first day.
Here’s a look at some of Trump’s initial actions and upcoming plans:
In a made-for-TV display at Capital One Arena on Monday evening, Trump signed a largely symbolic memorandum that he described as directing every federal agency to combat consumer inflation.
He is expected to add orders to ease regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production, including an order tied to Alaska. But he appears to be holding off at the moment on his threat to issue tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada and other countries. He also appears to be holding off on higher taxes on imports, with an incoming official pointing reporters to a Wall Street Journal story saying he will only sign a memorandum telling federal agencies to study trade issues.
Trump will sign an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, making it the Gulf of America. And the highest mountain in North America, now known as Denali, will revert back to Mount McKinley, its name until President Barack Obama changed it. The renaming is to honor “American greatness,” according to a preview of the orders posted online by Trump’s incoming press secretary.
He signed an order that flags must be at full height at every future Inauguration Day. The order came because former President Jimmy Carter’s death had prompted flags to be at half-staff. Trump demanded they be moved up Monday.
Much of the executive action on the border is ripped from Trump’s first-term playbook. He will declare a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, send U.S. troops to help support immigration agents and restrict refugees and asylum. He’s also pledged to restart a policy that forced asylum seekers to wait over the border in Mexico, but officials didn’t say whether Mexico would accept migrants again. During the previous effort, squalid and fetid camps grew on the border and were marred by gang violence. Trump is also promising to end birthright citizenship, but it’s unclear how he’d do it — it’s enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
He ended the CBP One app, a Biden-era border app that gave legal entry to nearly 1 million migrants.