President Trump signs multiple executive orders within his first week fulfilling many campaign promises. Photo by AP Photo.
JULIA VERES | STAFF REPORTER | jveres@butler.edu
In his first week back in office, President Donald Trump signed a multitude of executive orders, setting the precedent for his administration. These have addressed issues ranging from the economy and trade to civil rights and immigration policies.
One of Trump’s first actions was to sign a blanket pardon for the majority of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists. The 14 who did not receive a full pardon have had their sentences commuted, and everyone who was prosecuted for the Jan. 6 riot will soon be released from federal custody.
President Trump has also announced multiple new policies regarding foreign relations. Trump has officially withdrawn the United States from both the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization.
An executive order was signed that ends constitutionally protected birthright citizenship, meaning federal agencies will not issue citizenship documents to babies whose parents lack legal citizenship.
This act shows his continued plans from his last presidency to secure the United States border and crack down on immigration by continuing former President Biden’s restriction of asylum, fully suspending access until further notice.
When the Colombian government refused a plane full of deported Colombian migrants, Trump threatened to enact tariffs on the state. The threat of increasing tariffs aligns with the President’s proposed plan of increasing tariffs on imports from many countries, namely Canada and Mexico.
Ryan Daugherty, a political science and international relations lecturer, believes that the angry response from other countries, including allies, is warranted. To other countries, it may feel like they are being punished.
“From what I have read from other political scientists, it seems very short-sighted,” Daugherty said. “It is going to cause more strain with allies or potential partners that might come to bite [the U.S.] down the road.”
Domestically, Trump has also enforced multiple policies on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Hours after being sworn in, the President signed an executive order to end DEI programs, and revoked acts related to DEI, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, within the federal government, labeling these initiatives as “discriminatory.” The president has said that his goal behind the dismantling of DEI-based hiring is to restore hiring processes that are strictly based on merit.
In another executive order, Trump declared the recognition of only two sexes on legal documents, as he said he would in his inaugural address. This two-sex policy has received much criticism from activist groups because it directly contradicts Biden’s previous policy. The American Civil Liberties Union has made its support for the LGBTQ+ community clear and has already announced that it will be attempting to sue President Trump.
Noel Garcia, a junior majoring in criminology-psychology and treasurer for Butler LGBTQIA+ Alliance, spoke about the two sexes order.
“If you read further into the executive order it talks about how [sexes are] unchangeable and so on,” Garcia said. “I think those things are very noticeable. It might prevent people from even the smallest things like putting pronouns on your email handle, just because legally, they are no longer recognized.”
Trump also announced a freeze on any communications coming out of the Federal Drug Administration, the Center for Disease Control and other health-related agencies until Feb. 1. This immediate pause covers announcements and press releases as well as regulations and guidance.
Additionally, the administration tried to freeze funding for federal loans and grants. This freeze would have affected nonprofits, research and universities. The president has confirmed the freeze would not affect federal loans for students. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze in order to further review.
Dylan Noble, a junior political science major and president of College Democrats at Butler University, spoke about his concerns over these freezes and their implications on government-funded programs.
“Pausing federal funding has effects for all sorts of projects like transit, education and healthcare,” Noble said. “The federal government does so many of these things to intervene in a positive way in the economy and industries and so many states rely on federal grants that just pausing them overnight causes all this chaos.”
Butler University College Republicans declined to comment.
President Trump’s first week back in office has been filled with the changes that he proposed during his campaign trail. While there are mixed feelings about some controversial decisions the president has made, he is sticking to his word.