Executive orders: Donald Trump’s first acts as new president
Donald Trump has signed a raft of executive orders within hours of returning to the White House as he reversed some of his predecessor Joe Biden’s policies.
The new president told supporters at an inauguration parade event at a sports arena in Washington DC that he would revoke “80 destructive and radical executive actions of the previous administration”.
Trump inauguration: Latest updates
Donald Trump signs pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office. Pic: Reuters
Among Mr Trump‘s first acts after being sworn in as the country’s 47th president on Monday were:
January 6
:: Pardons for about 1,500 Trump supporters who have been charged over the January 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
The 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.
Climate
:: Withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement. The announcement further threatens the central goal of the agreement to avoid a rise in global temperatures of 1.5C.
Mr Trump withdrew the US from the agreement during his last presidency, but President Biden reversed this decision.
::Revoking a 2021 Biden order that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the US by 2030 were electric.
Energy
:: Repealing a 2023 memo from Mr Biden that barred oil drilling in 16 million acres in the Arctic. The new president declared a national energy emergency, promising to fill up strategic oil reserves and export US energy all over the world.
“We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it,” the American leader said.
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Trump inauguration: Key moments
Illegal immigration
:: Declaring illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency as he plans to send US troops to help support immigration agents and restrict refugees and asylum.
The president has also designated criminal cartels as terrorist organisations, and has taken steps to block citizenship for children of immigrants who are in the US illegally.
Mr Trump reversed several immigration orders from the Biden presidency, including one that narrowed deportation priorities to people who commit serious crimes, are deemed national security threats, or were stopped at the border.
Foreign affairs
:: Temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programmes for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.
It was not immediately clear how much assistance would initially be affected by the order as funding for many programmes has already been appropriated by Congress and is obligated to be spent, if not already spent.
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Free speech
:: Restoring freedom of speech and preventing censorship of free speech.
:: The president signed a document “ending weaponisation” of government against political opponents.
The order directs the attorney general to investigate the activities of the federal government over the last four years, including at the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission during the previous administration.
It said the government will “identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponisation of law enforcement and the weaponisation of the intelligence community”.
Death penalty
:: Mr Trump signed a sweeping 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.
Mr Trump said in the order that “politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country”. A moratorium on federal executions has been in place since 2021, and only three defendants remain on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.
TikTok
:: Mr Trump signed an executive order to keep TikTok operating for 75 days, a boost for the social media platform’s users even as national security questions remain.
TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance was supposed to find a US buyer or be banned on 19 January. Mr Trump’s order could give ByteDance more time to find a buyer.
“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok,” Mr Trump said.
Return to office
:: Ordering federal workers to return to the office five days a week.
:: The return-to-office order comes alongside a federal hiring freeze, except for the military, and the creation of an advisory body – the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – aimed at reducing the federal government’s size.
Cost of living
:: There was a directive to every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis.
Gender and equality
:: Ending “wasteful” government programmes promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, defend women from “gender ideology extremism” and restore biological truth to the federal government ( two sexes male and female).
Drug cartels
:: Designating cartels and other organisations as foreign terrorist organisations and specially designated global terrorists. “International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.”
Former US president Joe Biden has prostate cancer, his office has said.
The statement said Mr Biden, who left the White House in January, is reviewing options for treatment with his physicians.
It read: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
File pic: Reuters
According to Cancer Research UK, a Gleason score of 9 means the cancerous cells “look very abnormal” and the disease is “likely to grow quickly”.
A source familiar with Mr Biden and his family’s thinking has told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that the former president is considering “multiple treatment options” – including hormone treatment for the cancer.
They added he is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and that as of now, it is unclear where the former president will be treated.
Mr Biden, 82, was the oldest person to ever serve as president, with concerns about his health raised regularly during his campaign for re-election last year.
After a poor debate against Donald Trump in June, he withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris.
In February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
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A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
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