Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Trump takes first steps to enact his sweeping agenda

Trump takes first steps to enact his sweeping agenda

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025.

(JIM WATSON/GETTY IMAGES)

On his first day in office as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump began to implement his agenda for reshaping the nation's institutions.

He signed a flurry of executive orders, memorandums, and proclamations.


Here are five notable Trump’s Day 1 actions:

Evening Shot of Border Wall Between El Paso Texas USA and Juárez Chihuahua Texas at Puerto Anapra with US Border Patrol Vehicle in the Distance Getty Images//Stock Photo

1. Immigration

President Trump issued an executive order regarding birthright citizenship, which restricts federal agencies from issuing certain documents typically available to U.S. citizens.

This order affects children born after the measure takes effect, particularly in cases where the parents are unlawfully present in the U.S., or the mother is temporarily in the U.S. on a visa, and the father is a noncitizen.

Logo of the World Health Organization WHO with the WHO headquarters in the background in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

2. Withdrawal from WHO

Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), marking a substantial decision to sever ties with the U.N. public health agency. He has previously criticized the WHO, and the formal withdrawal process had begun during his administration amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Jan. 6 investigation goes primetime Brent Stirton/Getty Images

3. Pardons related to January 6

In a significant move, President Trump pardoned nearly all individuals convicted in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack, which includes about 1,270 people.

He also directed the Justice Department to dismiss approximately 300 pending cases and ordered the release of a smaller group of 14 defendants involved in the most serious sedition cases.

This action was more extensive than many expected, including some of Trump’s own advisors and GOP allies.

Sun, Global warming, Global boiling from the climate crisis and the catastrophic heatwave, Climate change, the sun and burning Heatwave hot sun Getty Images/Stock Photo

4. Paris Agreement Exit

President Donald Trump signed an executive action to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, mirroring his decision during his first term. The Paris Agreement is an international accord to address climate change, with nearly 200 countries committed to limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius and ideally below 1.5 degrees.

Each participating country is responsible for creating its own plan to meet these climate goals.

Joe Biden speaking in PennsylvaniaThe speech Joe Biden won’t give Anadolu/Getty Images

5. Biden-era executive orders revoked

Trump revoked several executive actions from the Biden administration, including the decision to remove Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, sanctions on Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and measures aimed at mitigating risks associated with artificial intelligence.

These reversals were part of a larger effort to overturn Biden-era policies and were signed at Capitol One Arena shortly after Trump's inauguration.

Trump reportedly intended to sign as many as 200 executive orders on the first day of his second term. By comparison, he signed one order on Inauguration Day 2017.

Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum, and the publisher of the Latino News Network.


Read More

Confirmation on Easy Mode: Sen. Mullin’s nomination to lead DHS

U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) testifies during his confirmation hearing to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Confirmation on Easy Mode: Sen. Mullin’s nomination to lead DHS

Since arriving in Congress in 2013 Sen. Markwayne Mullin has been known for disappearing for a few weeks to Afghanistan in a putative effort to rescue Americans still there after withdrawal and tried to draw the president of the Teamsters into a fight during a hearing. Ironically, or possibly appropriately, Sean O’Brien, that same president of the Teamsters, endorsed Mullin’s nomination. He has written several laws supporting Native American communities and pediatric cancer research. A Trump loyalist, on January 6, 2021 in the hours after the riot at the Capitol, Mullin voted to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by omitting Arizona and Pennsylvania’s votes for Joe Biden.

His work experience prior to his political career was primarily in running his family’s plumbing business after his father became ill. He spent four months as a mixed martial arts fighter with a record of three wins. (He’s also gotten a lot richer while in Congress.)

Keep ReadingShow less
Two people signing papers.

A deep dive into the growing uncertainty in the U.S. legal immigration system, exploring policy shifts, backlogs, and how procedural instability is reshaping the promise of lawful immigration.

Getty Images, Halfpoint Images

When Immigration Rules Keep Changing, the System Stops Working

For generations, the United States has framed legal immigration as a kind of social contract. Since 1965, when the Immigration and Nationality Act ended the national-origin quota system, the U.S. has formally opened legal immigration to people from around the world without racial or national-origin preferences. If people from across the globe sought to reunite with family or bring needed skills to the American economy, they were told they would be welcomed. If they sought U.S. citizenship, the country would provide a clear route to reach it.

Follow the procedures, submit the forms, pay the fees, pass the background checks, and your time will come. Legal immigration has never been easy or quick. But the promise has always been that the path exists.

Keep ReadingShow less
A New Norm of DHS Shutdown & Long Airport Lines

Travelers wait in a TSA Pre security line at Miami International Airport on March 17, 2026, in Miami, Florida. Travelers across the country are enduring long airport security lines as a partial federal government shutdown affects the Transportation Security Administration officers working the security lines.

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TCA)

A New Norm of DHS Shutdown & Long Airport Lines

If you’ve ever traveled to France, chances are you’ve come up against this all-too-common phenomenon. You get to the train station and, without warning, your train is out of service. Or a restaurant is oddly closed during regular business hours.

“C’est la grève,” you may hear from a local, accompanied by a shrug. It’s the strike.

Keep ReadingShow less
Constitutional Barriers to Nationalizing Elections
US Capitol
US Capitol

Constitutional Barriers to Nationalizing Elections

In the run-up to the midterms, President Trump continues to call for nationalizing congressional elections. He has sought to initiate the process through executive orders, such as one proposing to set “a ballot receipt deadline of Election Day for all methods of voting.” The words and spirit of the United States Constitution—the bedrock textualism and originalism of conservative constitutional interpretation—say he can’t nationalize elections.

Unlike some consequential constitutional questions, it’s not a close call.

Keep ReadingShow less