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Trump said during his campaign that he would be a dictator only on ‘day one’. Illustration: Guardian Design/Alex Brandon/AP
On his first day back in the White House, president Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders, including rescinding Biden-era executive actions and withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accord.
Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity during his campaign that he would be a dictator only on “day one” and use his presidential powers to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.
“After that, I’m not a dictator,” he said.
As executive orders rolled in on Monday, the accelerated pace amounted to a shock-and-awe campaign. Trump promised in his inaugural speech that these orders would amount to a “complete restoration of America”.
Here’s what we know so far about the most significant executive orders and actions Trump signed on Monday.
Ending birthright citizenship
The order: Along with a slew of immigration-focused orders, Trump is targeting automatic citizenship for US-born children of immigrants in the country illegally, to begin 30 days from today.
What Trump said: The order specifies that it would limit birthright citizenship if a person’s “mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth”, or “when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary”.
What it means: Birthright citizenship, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born on US soil, is protected by the 14th amendment and any attempt to revoke it will likely bring immediate legal challenges. The order attempts to deny documents recognizing US citizenship for individuals who meet that criteria and are born in the US 30 days after the order was signed.
Leaving the World Health Organization
The order: Trump signed an order to have the US exit the World Health Organization (WHO).
What Trump said: “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said at the signing. He accused the WHO mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic and other international health crises.
What it means: The US will leave the WHO in 12 months’ time and stop all financial contributions to its work. The US is biggest financial backer to the United Nations health agency.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico
The order: Trump ordered two name changes: the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Mount Denali.
What Trump said: “President Trump is bringing common sense to government and renewing the pillars of American Civilization,” the executive order said in part.
What it means: Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the “Gulf of America”, something he promised earlier this month at a press conference. He will rechristen Alaska’s Mount Denali as Mount McKinley, a change first made by former president Barack Obama in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents.
It will have no bearing on what names are used internationally.
Revoking electric vehicle targets
The order: Trump revoked a non-binding executive order signed by Biden aimed at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric.
What Trump said: “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” Trump said on Monday afternoon.
What it means: Part of an effort to repeal Biden’s environmental protections, Trump has also promised to roll back auto pollution standards finalized by Biden’s administration last spring.
Reclassifying federal employees, making them easier to fire
The order: Trump’s executive order reclassified thousands of federal employees as political hires, making it much easier for them to be fired.
What Trump said: Aides to the president have long heralded mass government firings as part of an attack on the so-called “administrative” or “deep” state.
What it means: Trump effectively reinstates “Schedule F”, an executive order he signed in the last year of his first term, seeking to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers. (Biden rescinded the order.)
Key aides to Trump have called for mass government firings. Project 2025 made attacks on the deep or administrative state a core part of Trump’s second term. The rightwing playbook called for civil servants deemed politically unreliable to be fired and replaced by conservatives.
Declaring a national energy emergency
The order: Trump declared a national energy emergency as part of a barrage of pro-fossil fuel actions and efforts to “unleash” already booming US energy production that included also rolling back restrictions in drilling in Alaska and undoing a pause on gas exports.
What Trump said: The order means “you can do whatever you have to do to get out of that problem and we do have that kind of emergency,” Trump said at the White House late on Monday.
What it means: The declaration would allow his administration to fast-track permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure. It is likely that the order, part of a broader effort to roll back climate policy, will face legal challenges.
Creating a policy recognizing only two genders
The order: Trump signed an order to remove “gender ideology guidance” from federal government communication, policies and forms. The order makes it official policy that there are “only two genders, male and female”.
What Trump said: “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination,” the order states.
What it means: The order reverses a Biden-era executive action on the acceptance of gender identity.
Pausing the TikTok ban
The order: Trump signed an executive order temporarily delaying the enforcement of a federal ban on TikTok for at least 75 days.
What Trump said: “I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” Trump said at the White House, as he signed executive orders according to the New York Times.
What it means: Trump ordered his attorney general to not enforce the law requiring TikTok’s sale. Trump says the pause allows for time to chart an “appropriate course forward” to protect national security and not abruptly shut down the popular app. In his first term, Trump favored a TikTok ban, but has since changed his position due to factors including his own popularity on the app.
Rescinding 78 Biden-era executive actions
The order: Trump ordered 78 Biden-era executive actions to be rescinded, including at least a dozen measures supporting racial equity and combating discrimination against gay and transgender people.
What Trump said: “I’ll revoke nearly 80 destructive and radical executive actions of the previous administration,” Trump told a crowd in Washington after his inaugural speech. He also said he would end policy “trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life” and push for a “color blind and merit-based” society.
What it means: The orders signal a reversal of Biden-era policy that prioritized implementing diversity measures across the federal government. Trump repealed orders signed by Biden advancing racial equity for underserved communities and the aforementioned order combating discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Declaring a national border emergency
The order: Trump signed an order at the White House declaring an emergency at the southern US border, along with several other immigration-related policies.
What Trump said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” Trump said in his inauguration speech.
What it means: The executive action paves the way to send US troops to the southern border and makes good on campaign promises to implement hardline immigration policies. There are limited details about how the administration planned to execute its sprawling set of immigration actions that were all but certain to face legal and logistical challenges.
Immigrant communities across the country are bracing for Trump’s promise to carry out the “largest deportation program in American history”, beginning as early as Tuesday morning.
Issuing pardons for January 6 defendants
The order: Trump issued pardons for offenders and commutations related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He will direct the Department of Justice to dismiss cases currently in progress.
What Trump said: “I’m going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons, to get them out,” Trump said during his rally speech. “We’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people.” Trump said he has pardoned about 1,500 defendants charged in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and issued six commutations.
What it means: Trump made his pledge to issue pardons for those with convictions related to the January 6 Capitol attack a core part of his re-election campaign. On the campaign trail, Trump often featured the national anthem sung by prisoners in a Washington DC jail. There are more than 1,500 people federally charged with associated charges.
With Trump back in the White House, justice department investigations into January 6 crimes are expected to cease.
Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement
The order: Trump issued executive action withdrawing the US from the 2015 Paris agreement, along with a letter informing the United Nations of the decision.
What Trump said: “I am immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Accord rip off” Trump said during a rally at the Capital One Arena. In his inaugural speech, Trump said he would use executive action to “end the Green New Deal”.
What it means: In 2017, Trump exited the Paris agreement. Upon taking office in 2021, Biden rejoined. Monday’s order makes good on a Trump election promise to withdraw from the 2015 global treaty seeking to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
Exiting the Paris agreement is part of Trump’s broader efforts to roll back climate protections and policy. Trump has described Biden’s efforts to grow the US’s clean energy sector as “the green new scam”.
Guardian staff
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