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Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders and directives as he seeks to put his stamp on his new administration on issues ranging from immigration, gender and energy, to criminal pardons.
The President signed some orders from the US Capitol, where his swearing-in ceremony took place, and more later at the White House.
Executive orders allow presidents to enact some policies without the consent of Congress and can take effect immediately. Some could later be challenged in court.
Members of Mr Trump’s team have been working on the orders for months, and intend to use them to signal an abrupt change in direction from the Biden administration.
Here are some of the key executive orders signed on Mr Trump’s first day back in office:
DEI initiatives
Gender
TikTok
Pardons
US border
End birthright citizenship
Energy policy
Working from home
Drill baby drill
Gulf of Mexico
Death penalty for police murders
EV mandate
DEI initiatives dismantled
Mr Trump has issued an executive order aimed at ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government.
Mr Trump rescinded two orders that Mr Biden signed on his first day in office four years ago, one advancing racial equity for underserved communities and another combating discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Mr Trump repealed other orders aimed at helping Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The President’s policies represent a major departure from Biden’s administration, which prioritised implementing diversity measures across the federal government.
Gender
Mr Trump has signed an executive order declaring the federal government will only recognise two genders.
The order instructs the secretaries of State and Homeland Security to ensure the official government documents like passports and visas only reflect two sexes: male and female.
In 2022, the Biden administration allowed citizens to select “X” – a gender neutral marker – on their passport.
TikTok
Mr Trump has paused the ban on TikTok in the US for 90 days, in a major win for the Chinese-owned social media app.
The incoming president said he hopes the platform can be brought under partial US ownership to address concerns about foreign interference.
The ban briefly came into effect over the weekend, but was later reversed on the expectation that Mr Trump would act as soon as he took office.
Pardons
The President pardoned about 1,500 rioters who stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” Mr Trump said. “We’re expecting it.”
The far-reaching action also cuts short the sentences of 14 members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers organisations, including some who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The document also directs the US Attorney-General to drop pending cases related to the riot.
Border
Mr Trump declared illegal migration at the US-Mexico border a “national emergency”.
He signed executive orders to beef up security at the southern border that began taking effect hours after he was inaugurated, making good on his defining political promise to crack down on immigration.
The president-elect has said he will use the US military to enforce immigration removals, and can circumvent Congress by designating the issue an emergency.
National emergency orders have previously been used to speed up the federal government’s response to the 9/11 attacks, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
End birthright citizenship
Mr Trump issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship.
The 14th Amendment states every child born “within the jurisdiction of the United States” is a US citizen, regardless of their parent’s immigration or citizenship status.
But Mr Trump’s impending order will end the government policy of recognising the immediate citizenship of children of illegal immigrants born on US soil.
Energy policy
The President has declared a national energy emergency, promising to fill up strategic oil reserves and export US energy all over the world.
He laid out a sweeping plan to maximise US oil and gas production – including by declaring a national energy emergency, stripping away excess regulation and withdrawing the US from an international pact to fight climate change.
The US also will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and end leasing to wind farms, according to the White House’s website.
End working from home for civil servants
Trump signed orders freezing government hiring and new federal regulations, as well as an order requiring federal workers to immediately return to full-time in-person work.
“I will implement an immediate regulation freeze, which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate,” Mr Trump said, adding he will also “issue a temporary hiring freeze to ensure that we’re only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public.”
The move would force large numbers of white-collar government employees to forfeit remote working arrangements, reversing a trend that took off in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some of Mr Trump’s allies have said the return-to-work mandate is intended to help gut the civil service, making it easier for Mr Trump to replace long-serving government workers with loyalists.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, previously said ordering federal staff back into the office would result in “a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome”.
Drill baby drill
Mr Trump will reverse some Biden-era restrictions on fossil fuel extraction, in his quest to “drill, baby, drill” from day one of his second administration.
He signed orders aimed at promoting oil and gas development in Alaska, reversing Mr Biden’s efforts to protect vast Arctic lands and waters from drilling.
He has also pledged to increase fracking, and to scale back policies to encourage green energy production.
Renaming Gulf of Mexico
Mr Trump has ordered the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Mount Denali to honour “American greatness”.
The Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America and Mount Denali will return to being called Mount McKinley.
The executive order will reverse former president Barack Obama’s decision to change the name of North America’s tallest peak to Mount Denali in 2015.
Death penalty for police murders
Mr Trump will restore the death penalty for any illegal immigrants who commit capital crimes and those who murder police officers.
During his election campaign, Mr Trump called for a mandatory death sentence for anyone who murders a police officer in the wake of the killing of NYPD detective Jonathan Diller.
It is an issue he has supported since at least 2015, when he vowed to sign an executive order giving “anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty”.
Mr Trump has directed the Attorney-General to pursue federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty “regardless of other factors” when the case involves the killing of a law enforcement officer or capital crimes “committed by an alien illegally present in this country”.
EV mandate
Mr Trump is expected to issue an executive order to end what he refers to as the “electric vehicle mandate”.
Last year Mr Biden implemented emission regulations which included a target for 56 per cent of all new US vehicles sold to be electric by 2032.
Electric vehicles made up less than eight per cent of all new car sales in 2023 and the policy was widely criticised in states such as Michigan which rely on the auto industry.
