Name: Trump Signs Slew of Executive Orders Halting Biden Policies
Uploaded: 2025-01-23T10:12:11.000Z
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Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments, and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, was sworn in Monday as the 47th U.S. president.

Trump’s swearing-in ceremony moved indoors due to intense cold. After being inaugurated, he attended a parade in his honor at Capital One Arena and signed a number of executive orders on everything from repealing former President Joe Biden's environmental policies to eliminating gender ideology from public schools. He also pardoned around 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

Here is the latest updates:
<h2>Trump to Dismiss More Than 1,000 Biden Appointees</h2>
President Donald Trump put more than 1,000 Biden administration appointees on notice with a post-midnight statement early Tuesday.

“Our first day in the White House is not over yet!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”

He said the social media post serves as an official notice of dismissal for four Biden officials.

The officials include Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition; Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council; Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars; and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.

“You’re fired!” Trump wrote.
<h2>Demonstrators Gather Outside DC Jail</h2>
On inauguration night, music played as supporters of Jan. 6 defendants stood across from the D.C. Central Detention Facility, where many have been detained. After being sworn in earlier in the day, President Donald Trump issued full pardons to roughly 1,500 defendants and commuted 14 sentences.

Demonstrators were standing across the street from the facility but at one point, moved across the street to the doors of the facility. Police responded by pushing the crowd back steadily until it returned to the park across the street.

Among those gathered was Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbit, who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer on Jan. 6, 2021. Witthoeft told The Epoch Times that for her, the pardons mean “victory for Ashli.”
<h2>Trump Thanks Service Members, Vows to Prevent Wars</h2>
Trump delivered a speech to service members from every branch of the military and their spouses, thanking them for their service and sacrifice, and promising to “win, win, win” against the nation’s adversaries.

The president also vowed to make America stronger by preventing wars from breaking out.

“We will again build the most powerful military the world has ever seen,” Trump said.

“Our friends will respect us, our enemies will fear us, and the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military,” he added.

Promising to end the ongoing recruitment crisis and to prevent more wars by making the military stronger, the president said that his greatest honor is serving as leader of the United States’ military.

“Today we celebrate the enduring strength and resilience of our glorious Republic,” he said.

“I have no higher privilege in life than to serve as your commander-in-chief, not once, but twice.”
<h2>President and First Lady Make Entrance at Inaugural Ball</h2>
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump held their first dance at the Inaugural Ball in Washington to a slowly crooned rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic".

The president and first lady were then joined by Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance, followed by members of the United States military, with whom the couples took turns dancing in celebration of the beginning of Trump’s second term in office.
<h2>Trump Revokes Security Clearances From Bolton, 49 Other Former Intel Officials</h2>
Among the executive actions, Trump signed on Monday evening was an order revoking the security clearances for his former national security adviser John Bolton, as well as 49 other former intelligence community officials who signed a letter in 2020 insinuating that reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop was a Russian disinformation operation.

Trump’s order specifically faults Bolton for publishing a White House memoir following his departure from his administration. The order states Bolton’s memoir was “rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government.”

In the fall of 2020, as The New York Post began to publish reports on the contents of a laptop Hunter Biden had reportedly abandoned at a computer repair shop, 51 former members of the U.S. intelligence community signed onto a letter stating the laptop story “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

The FBI and DOJ later confirmed that the laptop was authentic and did belong to Hunter Biden.

Trump’s order states that the letter was used to unfairly sway the 2020 election outcome.

“The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions,” the order states.

As a remedy for these perceived abuses, Trump ordered that Bolton and the signatories of the 2020 letter should lose their security clearances. The order notes that two of the signatories of the 2020 letter are now deceased.

The order also calls for the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report reviewing the role that others may have played in the 2020 letter regarding the Hunter Biden laptop and recommendations to prevent similar efforts that may impact future U.S. election outcomes.
<h2>Trump Begins Chipping Away at Inflation Reduction Act</h2>
Among the nine executive orders Trump signed at Capital One Arena was one that dissolved 78 executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden with one pen stroke.

The presidential actions mostly rid federal agencies of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies but also unplugged two Biden executive orders from January restricting offshore drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters.

Trump is expected to issue a separate executive order revising the five-year offshore leasing plan approved under the Biden administration. It schedules just three auctions through 2029 compared to 47 during Trump's first term.

The president is likely not only to request more auctions but to expand auctions to new offshore regions.

Three other provisions reverse Biden orders that provided regulatory authority for implementing aspects of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Trump and congressional Republicans vow to dismember the massive IRA, which, with 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and 2022’s CHIPS & Science Act, were the signature bills of Biden’s “New Green Deal.”

By repealing the three executive orders, the White House and Congress can administratively tighten tax credits, claw back some loans and grants, and revise unfinalized rules under the Congressional Review Act to chip away at the IRA.
<h2>Attorney for Former Proud Boys Chairman Says His Client's Pardon Is a ‘Turning Point’</h2>
Nayib Hassan, an attorney for former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, said in a statement that his client’s pardon “symbolizes a turning point for our nation.”

“Throughout this journey, we have steadfastly maintained that the charges and the subsequent prosecution were politically motivated, and today, with President Trump’s act of clemency, that long-fought battle concludes,” Hassan said.
<h2>Trump Signs Memorandum Allowing Security Clearances for Some Aides</h2>
Trump signed a memorandum allowing his White House counsel to grant interim six-month security clearances—including access to the highest levels of government information—to some aides whose federal background checks are pending.

Trump delayed signing an agreement with the outgoing Biden administration last year that would have enabled the FBI to begin processing those clearances faster. Trump’s memo directs that they be granted access to federal property, technology, and information immediately.
<h2>Trump Raises Possibility of Invoking Wartime Power Act to Deport Gang Members</h2>
Trump is raising the possibility of invoking a wartime power act for the first time since World War II to deport gang members who are deemed members of a foreign terrorist organization.

He is directing the Homeland Security and Justice departments to prepare for him to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to detain or deport any noncitizen from a country considered an enemy of the United States.

The law has been invoked only three times: during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. It was last used to detain Japanese citizens following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Trump’s executive order paves the way for criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua or MS-13 to be named “foreign terrorist organizations.”

“The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States,” the order reads.
<h2>Trump Signs Order Halting Offshore Wind Expansion</h2>
Trump signed an executive order halting offshore wind lease sales and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits, and loans for onshore and offshore wind projects.

Trump’s order says the interior secretary will review federal wind leasing and permitting practices. The assessment will consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects, the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity, and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry, the order states.

Trump wants to increase drilling for oil and gas and has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.
<h2>Taiwanese President Congratulates Trump and Vance</h2>
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te congratulated Trump and Vance on their inauguration in a message on the social platform X.

“Taiwan looks forward to working with your administration to promote enduring freedom, peace & prosperity around the world,” the statement read. “We wish you great success in the years ahead.”

The United States is Taiwan’s largest unofficial backer and arms provider. The government in Taipei hopes the Trump administration will continue to offer its support in the face of annexation threats from the Chinese regime, which considers the self-ruled island its own territory and threatens to take it over by force if necessary.
<h2>Trump Directs Attorney General to Help States Get Lethal Injection Drugs</h2>
Trump has signed a sweeping execution order on the death penalty, directing the attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful action” to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions.

Trump wrote that “politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country.”

A moratorium on federal executions had been in place since 2021, and only three defendants remain on federal death row after Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.
<h2>Trump Is Not Confident Cease-Fire in Gaza Will Hold</h2>
Trump said the Hamas terrorist group is weakened, but he’s hardly certain that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will hold.

“I’m not confident,” Trump told reporters. “That’s not our war. It’s their war.”

He said his administration “might” help rebuild Gaza, which he compared to a “massive demolition site.”

“Some beautiful things could be done with it,” said Trump, the real estate developer turned commander in chief, noting the territory’s coastline and “phenomenal” weather and location. “Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza. Some beautiful things could be done with Gaza.”
<h2>Trump Suspends US Foreign Assistance for 90 Days Pending Reviews</h2>
Trump has signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.

It was not immediately clear how much assistance would be initially affected by the order. Funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and obligated to be spent, if not already spent.
<h2>Trump Immigration Order Restores 2017 Deportation Criteria</h2>
One of Trump’s more impactful orders on immigration simply restores what was in place when he took office in 2017.

Trump wants to end federal grants to “sanctuary” jurisdictions or state and local governments that limit cooperation with immigration authorities. The White House maintains that sanctuaries are breaking a law that forbids interfering with federal law enforcement officers.

He also wants negotiations with state and local governments to deputize local police to enforce immigration laws, known as 287(g) agreements, after a section of a 1996 immigration law.

The order restores deportation criteria to pursue everyone in the country illegally, not just those with serious criminal records, those deemed national security or public safety threats, and those who recently crossed the border.
<h2>In Oval Office, Trump Signs Suite of Executive Orders</h2>
<ul>
 	<li>A full pardon for around 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants and six commutations for prisoners.</li>
 	<li>Proclamation guaranteeing states’ protection against invasion, invoking executive powers related to the ongoing “invasion” at the southern border.</li>
 	<li>A declaration of a national emergency at the southern border.</li>
 	<li>A realignment of the United States Refugee Admission Program “to better align with American principles and American interests.”</li>
 	<li>An order to reevaluate and realign U.S. foreign aid.</li>
 	<li>Protections from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats regarding the southern border.</li>
 	<li>An executive order entitled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” in response to “the unprecedented admission of illegal aliens” at the southern border.</li>
 	<li>An executive order ending birthright citizenship.</li>
 	<li>An executive order reforming hiring in the federal government that notes, “Our country is going to be based on merit again.”</li>
 	<li>Clarification of the military’s role in protecting U.S. territorial integrity.</li>
 	<li>Creation of the presidential advisory commission Department of Government Efficiency.</li>
 	<li>An executive order unleashing Alaska’s potential as a resource reservoir for the nation.</li>
 	<li>Protections for Americans from foreign adversary-controlled applications such as TikTok.</li>
 	<li>Reforms to the federal workforce.</li>
 	<li>A memorandum resolving a backlog of security clearances left over from the Biden administration.</li>
 	<li>Holding former government officials accountable for election interference and unlawful disclosure of sensitive information.</li>
 	<li>A declaration of a national energy emergency.</li>
 	<li>An order unleashing energy production, easing the permitting processes and other regulatory systems to ensure efficient energy production.</li>
 	<li>The withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization.</li>
 	<li>Protections for women against “radical gender ideologies.”</li>
 	<li>A Martin Luther King, Jr. Day proclamation.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Trump Says He Could Travel to China this Year</h2>
Trump said that he could travel to China this year to meet with the leadership there.

Asked if he would travel to China amid strained diplomatic, economic, and military relations, Trump said that he had an invitation to visit leadership in Beijing.

“Yeah, I could be, I’ve had the invite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Were Trump to move forward with plans to swiftly travel to China and meet with Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, he would become the first U.S. president to visit China within the first 100 days of an administration since George H.W. Bush in 1989.

The president also said that he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon” as he seeks to facilitate a cease-fire in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
<h2>Trump on Possible TikTok Deal</h2>
Trump reiterated that he remains open to approving a deal to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States.

He signed an executive order on Monday evening, pausing the enforcement of the divest-or-ban law for 75 days until his administration determines the best solution that “protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.” The enforcement freeze would cover the time between the original deadline of Jan. 19 and the timing of the EO, according to the order.

“I may not do the deal, but I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless, worthless if I don’t approve it. It has to close,” Trump told reporters as he signed the EO.

China-based ByteDance, which owns TikTok, paused its U.S. operations on Saturday evening as the original deadline for divestiture approached. After a 14-hour shutdown, the company resumed its services on Sunday afternoon on signs that Trump would give them more time to make a deal.

Trump suggested that a deal allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States might entail a joint venture between ByteDance and the United States or a private sector U.S. owner, in which the U.S. side gains 50 percent of the app’s value.

China and ByteDance have previously opposed selling TikTok. The president suggested he may also employ tariffs to compel China to approve a deal.
<h2>Trump Praises Bill Clinton’s ‘Great Political Sense’</h2>
As he sat down to sign executive orders, Trump was asked which former president he would call for advice.

He responded that Bill Clinton was a “very interesting politician” and said he had a “great political sense.”

Trump said Clinton was “disrespected” and “not used properly.”

Trump was also asked about his friendly chat with former President Barack Obama during former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral.

“We were having some crazy conversations,” he said.
<h2>Trump Moves to Withdraw the US From WHO Again</h2>
Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO).

It was the second time in less than five years that he’s ordered the country to withdraw from the organization.
<h2>Trump Says He’ll Talk to Putin Soon</h2>
“Most people thought that war would have been over in one week,” Trump said of Russia’s nearly three-year war on Ukraine. He added, “I think he’d be very well off to end that war.”

Trump said that he thinks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to make a deal to end a conflict.
<h2>Trump Says the US Should Own Half of TikTok</h2>
Trump says the United States as a country should own half of TikTok, which he estimated could be worth $1 trillion.

“I think the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok and, congratulations, TikTok has a good partner and that would be worth, you know, could be $500 billion,” Trump says.

The president was speaking about the social media platform with a China-based owner as he was signing an order to keep TikTok open so that it can find a potential buyer and avoid being shut down on national security grounds.
<h2>Trump Calls Birthright Citizenship ‘Ridiculous’ as He Tries to End It</h2>
Trump says he favors legal immigration as he signed orders declaring a national emergency on the U.S. border with Mexico, suspending refugee resettlement, and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the United States.

Trump acknowledged an imminent legal challenge to overturning birthright citizenship, which has been enshrined in the U.S. Constitution since 1868. He said automatic citizenship was “just ridiculous” and that he believed he was on “good [legal] ground” to change it.

“That’s a big one,” he bantered with reporters while signing an order declaring the border emergency.

Trump said immigrant labor was needed for investment that he anticipates will accompany higher tariffs.

“I’m fine with legal immigration. I like it, we need people,” he said.
<h2>Trump Executive Order Keeps TikTok Online for Now</h2>
Trump signed an executive order Monday to keep TikTok operating for 90 days, a relief to the social media platform’s users even as national security questions persist.

TikTok’s China-based parent was supposed to find a U.S. buyer or be banned on the previous Sunday. Trump’s order would give them more time to find a buyer.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok,” Trump says.

Former President Joe Biden declined to enforce the bipartisan measure that he signed into law, while Trump has pledged to keep TikTok open after crediting it for helping his 2024 election victory. Trump’s legal authority to preserve TikTok is unclear under the terms of the law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
<h2>Lawyer Calls Commutation for Proud Boys Client ‘Wonderful’</h2>
Norm Pattis, an attorney for former Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs, said it was “wonderful” to learn that Trump commuted his client’s 17-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy.

“It gets him out of prison,” Pattis told The Associated Press. “He had 13, 14 more years to go, and there’s no place like home.”
<h2>Trump Says Tariffs on US Neighbors Could Come Next Month</h2>
Trump says he could place 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1. He declined to give a date on China tariffs.

Trump has talked extensively about his tariff plans and his affection for the levies on imported goods during multiple public remarks Monday.
<h2>No West Wing Office for Musk</h2>
Trump says Elon Musk won’t get a desk in the West Wing.

The president made the comment while signing executive orders in the Oval Office.

Trump has named Musk, the Tesla and X CEO, as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
<h2>Trump Finds Letter From Biden While Signing Executive Orders</h2>
Trump found a letter from Biden in the Oval Office’s Resolute desk, but only after a journalist reminded him to look for it.

While signing a series of executive orders, a journalist asked Trump if he’d received a letter. Trump said he didn’t know and checked the desk drawers, holding up the letter for the cameras.

“Maybe we should all read it together,” Trump said before setting it aside. He said he’ll read it himself before sharing it publicly.

The letter’s envelope has "47" handwritten in what looked like pencil and underlined.
<h2>Trump Issues Full Pardon for 1,500 People, 14 Commutations</h2>
Back in the Oval Office, Trump issued a full pardon of around 1,500 people and 14 commutations who are serving time for Jan. 6-related charges.

The order requires the Bureau of Prisons to act immediately on the order, and Trump said he hopes that prisons get going tonight.

Trump also suggested that the six commutations could become full pardons.
<h2>Senate Committee Advances Trump DHS Nominee Kristi Noem, OMB Nominee Russ Vought</h2>
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on Jan. 20 to advance two of Trump’s cabinet-level nominees, Kristi Noem for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary and Russ Vought for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director.

The committee advanced Noem’s nomination on a 13-2 vote.

Vought’s nomination advanced through the committee by an 8-7 vote.

Noem and Vought both sat for questioning before the Republican-led Senate committee last week.

The favorable votes by the committee now send Noem and Vought’s nominations to the Senate floor for a full vote.
<h2>Trump Enters White House as President</h2>
Trump entered the White House as president after leaving his post-inauguration parade in Capital One Arena.

This is the first time he’s entered the White House as president since vacating it in January 2021.

Several more executive orders are awaiting his signature in the Oval Office.
<h2>Trump Signs First 9 Executive Orders</h2>
Trump signed nine executive orders at Capital One Arena in front of his supporters on Monday, marking the first orders of this second term.

Here are the executive orders:
<ol>
 	<li>The undoing of 78 of former President Joe Biden’s executive actions, executive orders, and presidential memoranda.</li>
 	<li>A regulatory freeze to prevent bureaucrats from issuing any more regulations until the administration has full control of the government.</li>
 	<li>A federal hiring freeze, except for the military and other exempted categories, until the administration has full control of the government and the government’s objectives are understood.</li>
 	<li>A requirement for all federal employees to return to full-time in-person work immediately.</li>
 	<li>A directive for every federal government department and agency to address the cost of living crisis.</li>
 	<li>An official withdrawal of the Paris Climate Accord, which Trump’s team said would save the United States $1 trillion.</li>
 	<li>A letter to be sent to the United Nations explaining that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.</li>
 	<li>A government-wide directive ordering the restoration of the freedom of speech and preventing government censorship against free speech.</li>
 	<li>A directive for the federal government to end the weaponization of government against “the political adversaries of the previous administration.</li>
</ol>
Each executive order was announced and followed by a round of applause from the audience.

Trump is expected to sign more executive orders at the Oval Office later Monday night.
<h2>Senate Unanimously Confirms Rubio as Secretary of State</h2>
The Senate unanimously approved the nomination of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as U.S. Secretary of State on Monday, making him the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks to receive the green light on Inauguration Day.

The vote 99–0 took place just an hour after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where Rubio had served since 2011, voted unanimously in favor of Rubio, with a 22–0 vote. The Florida senator testified days prior in front of the committee in a five-hour hearing on his foreign policy views.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the committee, said that he encourages anyone who wants a clear understanding of U.S. foreign policy to watch Rubio’s testimony.

“His performance was flawless,” he told the lawmakers in a floor speech ahead of the Monday vote.

The committee’s vice chair Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) echoed him, saying she was pleased the committee had moved swiftly and unanimously to move Rubio’s confirmation forward.
<h2>Trump to Preserve ‘Political Persecution’ Records</h2>
Trump said that to “stop the weaponization of law enforcement and our government,” he will immediately sign an executive order directing all federal agencies to preserve and retain all records “pertaining to political persecutions under the last administration.”

Trump said the process will expose “any and all abuses of power,” even though “[former President Joe Biden] pardoned many of these people.”

Moments before leaving office today, Biden signed preemptive pardons for members of the House Jan. 6 Select Committee.
<h2>Trump to Immediately Sign Executive Orders</h2>
Trump said during his Capital One Arena speech that he would immediately begin signing a stack of executive orders, including the revoking of 80 executive actions from former President Joe Biden.

“I’m revoking nearly 80 destructive, radical executive actions of the previous administration. They’ll all be null and void within about what five minutes,” Trump said, adding that he would also implement “an immediate regulation freeze, which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate.”

Trump said he would fire “most of those bureaucrats” and issue a temporary hiring freeze, including a pause in hiring any new Internal Revenue Service agents. Federal workers will also be required to return to in-person work.

Lastly, Trump said he would sign a presidential memorandum directing every Cabinet member to use all powers at their disposal to combat inflation and to lower prices.
<h2>Trump Reacts to Biden’s Family Pardons</h2>
Trump commented on Biden’s decision to pardon his family in the final hours of his term.

“Did you know that Biden, while I was making my speech, pardoned his whole family?” Trump asked his audience at Capital One Arena. “The brother, the whole deal, was pardoned. Can you imagine that while I was making my speech?”

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Melina Wisecup is NTD's congressional correspondent based in Washington, covering Capitol Hill and campaign politics.

Melina Wisecup

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Donald Trump

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