President Donald Trump said he pardoned around 1,500 people who were at the Jan. 6 riots, as one of his first actions after his second inauguration on Monday.

Trump signed the “full” pardon in the Oval Office, after returning from the Capital One Arena, where he signed eight executive orders and actions in front of supporters.

He also signed an order attempting to end birthright citizenship. The order says federal, state and local government agencies cannot issue documents recognizing U.S. citizenship if a child is born to parents who are not in the U.S. legally, or if the mother was in the U.S. legally but temporarily, and the father is not a legal resident. The ACLU is set to file a lawsuit challenging the order, the Bulwark reported.

Another order designates cartels as terrorist organizations, which Trump called “a big one,” adding “Mexico probably doesn’t want that, but we have to do what’s right. They’re killing our people.”

Other orders he signed at the Resolute desk included restarting the building of the border wall, reopening federal land to energy projects, putting a pause on foreign aid, and another defining sex as binary.

Executive orders signed at Capital One Arena

After a parade from the U.S. Capitol to the Capital One Arena, including his motorcade, Trump spoke at the 22,000-seat arena in downtown Washington, where thousands of his supporters awaited him.

After Trump’s speech he sat at a small desk, adorned with the presidential seal, and signed eight executive orders and actions.

When Trump finished signing, he tossed ceremonial pens into the crowd.

“Could you imagine Biden doing this?” Trump said. “I don’t think so.”

Earlier in the day, Trump signed several orders in the U.S. Capitol, including one establishing his Cabinet, and another ordering flags to full mast. They had been at half-mast in memory of former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29.

After signing orders at the arena, he traveled to the Oval Office where he signed pardons for more than 1,000 people who participated in the riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

Rescissions of Biden-era executive orders and actions

Trump’s first executive order effectively undid 78 of the Biden administration’s executive orders and actions, many of which dealt with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The order also reversed Biden’s move to allow transgender individuals to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.

“The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government,” Trump’s executive order read. “The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government.”

Federal government regulatory freeze

Trump initiated a pause on all new rules or regulations initiating within agencies of the federal government.

The executive order ordered all executive agencies to not propose or issue any new regulations “until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2025, reviews and approves the rule.”

Federal government hiring freeze

No additional employees of the federal government may be hired, effective immediately.

The only exceptions are “military personnel of the armed forces” and “positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.”

The purpose of the freeze is to “ensure that we’re only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public,” Trump said in his speech.

The hiring freeze cannot be lifted “until the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of OMB and the Administrator of USDS, determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze,” the executive action states.

In-person work for federal employees

Remote work is no longer an option for federal employees, a new executive action states.

“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis,” the executive action says.

Department and agency heads are able to grant exceptions “they deem necessary.”

‘Emergency price relief’

Trump ordered the heads of federal agencies to “deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law,” to the American people.

The memorandum encouraged agencies to lower the cost of housing, health care costs and home appliances; “create employment opportunities for American workers”; and “eliminate harmful, coercive ‘climate’ policies that increase the costs of food and fuel.”

No further instruction is given as to how to implement these changes.

In his speech, Trump said he would direct his Cabinet to “marshal every power at their disposal to defeat inflation and rapidly bring down the cost of daily life.”

Withdrawal from Paris climate treaty

Trump signed an executive order declaring the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and he signed a letter informing the U.N. of the same.

“In recent years, the United States has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country’s values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives,” the executive order states.

In his speech, Trump suggested the U.S. should not have to engage in conservation efforts unless China does the same.

“The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” he said.

Ending ‘weaponization of the federal government’

Trump ordered heads of federal agencies to investigate internal conduct over the past four years and “identify any instances where a department’s or agency’s conduct appears to have been contrary” with “pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives”

“The prior administration and allies throughout the country engaged in an unprecedented, third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process,” the executive order says.

In his speech, Trump claimed he has “been investigated more than any human being in the world.”

Restoring free speech

893
Comments

Trump ordered the incoming attorney general to investigate the federal government’s activities over the past four years to identify any actions that censored free speech.

“Under the guise of combatting ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘malinformation,’ the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate,” the executive order said.

In his speech, Trump declared, “In America, we believe in free speech, and we’re bringing it back, starting today.”

Contributing: Suzanne Bates

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.