U.S. President Donald Trump signed dozens of executive orders on the 20th (local time), opening the door to 'Trump 2.0' on his first day in office.
The New York Times (NYT) reported that 'President Trump signed dozens of executive orders addressing top priorities of the administration, including a mass pardon for those involved in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.'
President Trump pardoned over 1,500 of his supporters indicted in the January 6 Capitol riots and commuted 14 sentences, noting, 'We hope they will be out (of prison) tonight.' Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, responded with a statement, calling it 'a ridiculous insult to our justice system.'
Earlier, after losing the 2020 presidential election, President Trump denied the election results, and his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent then-elect President Joe Biden's confirmation as president. Subsequently, President Trump was criminally charged with inciting the Capitol riots, but the case was dropped under the Justice Department's 'no prosecution policy for sitting presidents' after his election win.
President Trump's 'first executive order' aims to nullify dozens of executive orders signed by former President Biden. From his first day in office, he initiated a 'Biden erase' campaign, repealing 78 orders at once, including a ban on discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation and a designation reversing Cuba's status as a state sponsor of terrorism.
President Trump also signed an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement. He had previously withdrawn from the WHO and the Paris Climate Agreement in July and November 2020, respectively, but former President Biden revoked those decisions immediately upon taking office.
As part of measures against illegal immigration, he signed an executive order preventing birthright citizenship from being granted to newborns born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. He also declared a 'national emergency' at the southern (U.S.-Mexico) border through an executive order related to illegal immigration.
President Trump also signed an executive order suspending the so-called 'TikTok ban' for 75 days, stating, 'I gave them (TikTok) the right to sell it to me (or to an American company) or shut it down.' By postponing the enforcement of the 'TikTok ban,' which would restrict operations in the U.S. if TikTok did not sell its U.S. operations to an American corporation by the 19th, he provided TikTok with time to find a solution.