Donald J. Trump was inaugurated to begin his second term as President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025. Due to freezing temperatures, the inauguration was held in the United States Capitol and the following inaugural parade was held at Capital One Arena. The parade ended with a live signing of executive orders.
A common practice for presidents in their first one hundred days in office is to sign executive orders to kick start their presidency. Trump continued this tradition by signing 26 orders on his first day in office, the most executive orders issued by a president on their inauguration day. He continued this trend and as of Feb. 26, he’s signed 73 orders, the most signed by a president in their first one hundred days since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The orders signed by Trump cover a wide range of issues, many of them receiving mixed reactions.
Among the most controversial orders is EO14160 “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” This order looks to end birthright citizenship, a right that’s guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. Despite being an executive order, several lawyers and advocacy groups have worked to create lawsuits to oppose the passing of this order and four federal judges have blocked this order due to its attack on the Constitution.
While the likelihood of EO14160 passing is low due to the Constitution, this is just one of many orders that look to advance Trump’s immigration platform. Along with EO14160, Trump also signed EO14159 “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” Calling for increased presence of Homeland Security Task Forces across the country, the creation of more detention facilities to house undocumented immigrants, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to “take appropriate action to use all other provisions of the immigration laws [. . .] to ensure the efficient and expedited removal of aliens from the United States,” this order has drastically changed the United States’ immigration policy and has led to mass deportations throughout the country.
Trump has also used these orders to address cultural issues like gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). EO14201 “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” bans educational programs from receiving federal funding if they allow transgender women and girls to participate in “female” sports and looks to prioritize Title IX enforcement on the programs that allow transgender women to compete in these sports.
EO14173 “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” ends DEI programs in federal agencies, encourages the private sector to end DEI initiatives, and calls for the Attorney General and Secretary of Education to issue guidance to educational institutions receiving federal funding on how to comply with the recent overturning of affirmative action. This comes after Trump stated in his inauguration speech that “we will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.”
Trump’s orders have also terminated all government positions related to DEI (EO14151), withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization (EO14155), and revoked dozens of orders signed by former president Biden, among many other issues.
Being only a month into his presidency, the long-lasting effects of the orders remain unknown. During his first presidency, several actions by the Trump administration faced litigation and of those that did, only 22% made it through the courts intact. With the attention given to many of the orders already, the administration could experience the same difficulties.
Below you can find an exhaustive list of the executive orders Trump has signed as of Feb. 26, 2025.
