January 27, 2025 by Olivia Clemmensen (‘26)
On January 20th, also this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the world witnessed the inauguration of the United States of America’s 47th President, Donald J. Trump. Upon his first moments in office, President Trump already had big plans and executed many of them. Within the first week of his Presidency, Trump has signed, filed, and enforced many things. Here is a list of all the changes he has made during his first week in office:
-Trump appointed Pete Hegseth as defense secretary of the presidential cabinet along with Kristi Noem as homeland security. He also established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), appointing Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy into this position to oversee the productivity of the government.
photo source: nytimes.com
-Starting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”. The Diversity Equity and Inclusion organization provides and supports opportunities for people of minority groups in the workforce and employment industry, and with this order, the American government will no longer give support to this organization.
-As mentioned in his inaugural address to the nation, he made it clear that he and the government should support only two genders, filing an order claiming the “policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes-male and female” including on all government documents like passports and visas.
-President Trump also changed the name of the highest peak in North America, Mount Denali in Alaska to Mount McKinley-after the peak was originally named Mount McKinley by President McKinley and then later changed by President Obama-, and the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”.
-He pulled the United States out of World Health Organization, a United Nations agency responsible for global public health, and the Paris Climate Agreement, which was originally adopted to “improve upon and replace the Kyoto Protocol, an earlier international treaty designed to curb the release of greenhouse gases. It entered into force on November 4, 2016, and has been signed by 195 countries and ratified by 190 as of January 2021” says Britannica.
-After 4 years, Trump has used his presidential pardons to pardon over 1,500 defendants charged for the January 6th attack in 2021, to protect them from jailtime and possible criminal sentences.
-Following much confusion and a world of social media being abruptly shut down the weekend before the inauguration, Trump has halted the Tik Tok ban in the U.S for 75 days, that will shut down the app for all American users, while currently, the app is not available to download on the App Store.
-Took away 78 executive orders signed by former President Joe Biden, including “efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, protect federal lands from oil drilling and reduce the cost of prescription medications.” stated USA Today.
-Lastly Trump filed a national border emergency, sending U.S. forces to “repel forms of invasion” at the Mexico border with America, in an attempt to prevent illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
With all these swift executive orders, President Trump has shown he has many plans, and only time will tell what other changes are in store for America under the new presidential administration.
Executive orders signed by Donald Trump cover January 6, Tiktok and more
Live updates: Trump presidency news and latest on Pete Hegseth’s confirmation | CNN Politics