What executive orders is Trump expected to sign?

Donald Trump is expected to unleash a blitz of executive orders now that he has been sworn in as the 47th US president, after making a call in Monday’s inaugural address for a “revolution of common sense” according to excerpts released before the event.

The Republican promised at a rally on Sunday to act unilaterally on a wide array of issues, including immigration, climate rules and diversity policies. It is common for presidents to sign a range of executive orders when they enter office, though the number Trump is expected to issue would be unprecedented.

Such orders carry the weight of law but can be overturned by subsequent presidents or the courts. Many could face legal challenges.

National emergency at the border

Trump administration officials told reporters on Monday that the now-president would sign an executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border – and ordering the Department of Defense to more heavily allocate resources and manpower to it.

“Remain in Mexico”

Officials also said Trump would re-implement his “Remain in Mexico” policy in a day-one executive order. A measure from his first term, it returned about 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers across the border to Mexico to await hearings.

Resume wall-building

When Trump was first elected president in 2016, he signed an executive order to build a border wall. Although parts of the wall have been built, there is still much left uncompleted, and official said he would issue a directive to finish what he started.

End birthright citizenship

Trump has called the constitutional right that says anyone born on US soil is an American citizen “ridiculous”. Trump officials told reporters on Inauguration Day that the president will deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally.

But doing that could prove much more difficult than simply issuing an executive order, and is expected to face legal challenges.

Refugee and asylum seekers

Trump will suspend refugees admissions into the US for at least four months, officials said. He also plans to use his presidential powers to “end” asylum by proclamation to fast-track deportations at the US-Mexico border.

Terrorism designation for gangs and cartels

The president will officially designate cartels and international gangs as foreign terrorist organisations, according to Trump officials. Central American MS-13 and Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be added to a list that includes Al Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State and Hamas.

Death penalty for certain immigrant criminals

Now that he is in office, officials said that Trump will direct his attorney general to seek the death penalty for any unauthorised immigrant who is found guilty of murdering law enforcement officers or other “capital” crimes.

Deportations

Trump has previously vowed to “launch the largest deportation program in American history”, starting on day one of his presidency. He has also vowed to end a longtime policy that has kept federal immigration authorities from conducting raids on churches and schools. But the pledge could face legal and logistical challenges.

Closing the border on health grounds

A 1944 measure called Title 42 allows the US government to curb migration to protect public health. It was last used during the pandemic, but US media report that the new administration is looking for a disease that would help justify its plans to close the southern US border with Mexico.

Tariffs

On his first day in office, Trump is only expected to direct federal agencies to “study trade policies and evaluate US trade relationships with China and America’s continental neighbours”, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Trump previously promised 10% tariffs on all imports, 25% on Canadian and Mexican goods and 60% on items coming from China.

Tariffs are likely to make consumer goods more expensive and could fuel inflation, experts say. Some countries are considering retaliatory action.

Trump introduced tariffs in his first term – including some on China that former President Joe Biden retained.

Inflation

Trump officials said that the newly-minted president would issue a memorandum on inflation that will emphasise the need for an “all of government approach” to bring down costs – though specific policy details were scant.

Crypto pile

Trump has championed cryptocurrency, and his election saw the value of Bitcoin increase by 30%.

Some believe Trump will move quickly to create a federal “Bitcoin stockpile” – a strategic reserve similar to the US’s stockpile of gold and oil – that he has said would serve as a “permanent national asset to benefit all Americans”.

National energy emergency

Trump will declare a national energy, officials tied with the new administration told reporters. It will be designed to allow the US to produce more natural resources and jobs, which the officials argued would strengthen national security.

Scrap Biden energy regulations

The president will aim to cut the Biden administration’s directives, regulations and programmes that aimed to boost green jobs, regulate the fossil fuel industry and limit pollution, officials also said.

The officials said he would end Biden’s electric vehicle mandate and increase natural resource production to lower American consumer costs. He will also issue an order targeting Alaska for its “incredible abundance of natural resources”.

Pull out of the Paris Agreement (again)

In 2017, Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement – a landmark international deal designed to limit rising global temperatures. Biden rejoined the accord when he took office. Trump is expected to pull out of it again, though officials did not mention it immediately on Monday.

Free Jan 6 “hostages”

Hundreds of people convicted after the 2021 US Capitol riots are awaiting potential pardons now that Trump has returned to office, but it is unclear if it will happen day one.

Trump has repeatedly referred to them as “hostages” and has said he is “inclined to pardon many of them”. More than 1,500 individuals were arrested in relation to the event. At least 600 were charged with assaulting or impeding federal officers.

At a rally on Sunday, Trump said he would release classified documents related to the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963, a subject of countless conspiracy theories, as well as the 1968 killings of Senator Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump officials did not mention this plan on Monday.

Ukraine war

Trump claimed during the campaign that he would end the conflict on day one of his presidency. He has since said that he may need six months. It is unclear what he might do in his first days.

Cuba and Venezuela

Trump could use executive orders to undo Biden’s recent decision to remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. He could also reinstate sanctions against Venezuela. Both countries were frequent targets of his ire during his first administration, but officials did not mention it on Monday.

Trump is expected to issue orders that would form his new Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) – an advisory body that he expected to be co-led by Elon Musk in a bid to cut costs from government.

He reportedly wants to amend laws around hiring and sacking federal employees.

Transgender people

Trump officials told reporters ahead of the inauguration that Trump would issue an executive order saying it is US policy to recognise male and female biologically distinct sexes, rather than “gender and sex”. “These are sexes that are not changeable,” an official said.

The order is expected to affect transgender policy regarding government communications, civil rights protections and federal funding as well as in US shelters and prisons. It could also affect official documents like passports and visas.

DEI

Trump plans to order the end of “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) programmes “inside the federal government”, affecting all agencies, officials said. The order will require the review of any renamed spaces and the incoming administration promised further actions that could affect the private sector.

During Sunday’s rally, Trump also pledged to take aim at “wokeness” in the US military.

Abortion

Like most Republican presidents before him, Trump is expected to reinstate the “Mexico City policy”, which bans federal aid to international groups that provide abortion counselling.

He is also expected to reinstate an abortion rule that prohibits Title X federal health providers, a low-income family planning programme, from mentioning abortion to patients. This would effectively strip millions of dollars from organisations that offer abortion or provide referrals.

On Sunday morning, Trump promised to issue an executive order that would postpone a law banning Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok from being implemented.

TikTok welcomed the pledge, and started restoring its app’s services in the US – having briefly switched them off to comply with the new US law.

Trump said his order would give the TikTok’s parent company a longer time to find a US partner to buy a 50% stake in the app.

He previously backed a TikTok ban, but recently reversed his stance, pointing to the billions of views he says his videos attracted on the platform during last year’s presidential campaign.

“Gulf of America”

Among Trump’s first executive orders will be one that directs the secretary of the interior to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico – a strategically important body of water in North America that covers 600,000 square miles – to the “Gulf of America”, US media reports.

Trump said during a January press conference that the body of water is controlled by cartels, and that “it’s ours”.

Alaska’s Mount Denali

That executive order will also call for Alaska’s Mount Denali to have its named reverted to Mount McKinley – in honour of America’s 25th president. The highest mountain peak in North America, President Barack Obama changed the name to Denali in 2015 to reflect what native tribes had called it.