President-elect Donald Trump is signing roughly 200 executive actions, memoranda and proclamations on his first day in office, CBS News has learned, undoing Biden administration mandates and implementing his “America first” policies.
He began by signing documents establishing Cabinet and subcabinet appointments, acting leaders of departments and agencies and a proclamation that flags are to be flown at full staff on inauguration days. Flags have been flying at half staff after the death of President Jimmy Carter earlier this month.
Trump’s plans include executive orders “unleashing American energy,” including actions to undo President Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, declare a “national energy emergency,” and encourage the excavation of America’s natural resources, an incoming White House official told reporters Monday morning. He also plans to sign a presidential memorandum on inflation.
And he plans to take action on getting “wokeness” out of the military, and to direct the military to begin construction of an Iron Dome-type missile defense shield, Trump said on Sunday.
He is expected to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion policies put in place by the Biden administration.
Trump aslo plans to make public the remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother, Robert Kennedy, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr, and other topics of high public interest.
Immigration and border executive orders
He plans to invoke presidential powers to begin a sweeping crackdown on immigration after his inauguration on Monday, tasking the military with border enforcement, designating cartels and gangs as terrorist groups, shutting down asylum and refugee admissions and attempting to terminate birthright citizenship. The president will be declaring a national emergency at the southern border and will order the Defense Department to more heavily involve military resources there, tasking officials to deploy additional troops to the border.
He’s instructing officials to restart construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, relaunching a massive, multi-billion-dollar government project that he championed during his first term in office, that was halted by President Biden, although he restarted construction in 2023 along the border in Texas, where there were high incidences of illegal entry. During the Trump administration, about 450 miles of barriers were built along the southwest border between 2017 and January 2021.
Birthright citizenship
Trump is directing the federal government to stop recognizing automatic birthright citizenship for children of people who are in the country illegally. The U.S. government has long interpreted the 14th Amendment of the Constitution as granting a right of citizenship for those born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Ending Biden administration immigration initiatives
Other actions related to the border include ending many Biden administration immigration initiatives, suspending refugee admission into the U.S. and branding certain Latin American gangs and cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. The incoming administration plans to invoke the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 to seek the removal of Tren de Aragua gang members, arguing they are an “armed force of the Venezuelan government” conducting a “predatory incursion and invasion” into the U.S.
Trump is also expected to direct the Justice Department to seek the death penalty for unauthorized immigrants who murder law enforcement officers or commit capital crimes.
Executive orders focused on the economy
Mr. Trump’s executive orders related to energy production and the economy are geared toward cutting regulations criticized as red tape. His orders will include declaring a national emergency related to energy costs for American consumers and putting an end to electric vehicle mandates.
The executive orders will include at least one focused specifically on Alaskan economic and energy production. The state and its natural resources are seen as critical to national security, and the new administration is seeking to boost its liquefied natural gas production for both export and domestic use.
The new president will also sign a presidential memorandum on inflation, directing the government to focus on bringing down rising costs.
Gender and diversity orders
Another set of campaign promises Trump will address on his first day are related to gender “wokeness” and programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Executive orders will also make it a policy of the federal government to recognize two sexes that cannot be changed: male and female. These definitions would be defined through “reproductive function,” as opposed to “chromosome definition.”
Mr. Trump will also direct the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate with agencies to terminate all mandates, policies, and programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
This executive order will also include a review of facilities that have been renamed as part of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
