One week of Trump 2.0: The biggest takeaways

President Donald Trump has been back in the Oval Office for just a week, but he has already unleashed a flurry of executive actions designed to remake the government and country in his image.

Within minutes of signing dozens of consequential executive orders, he drew backlash from Democrats, including those representing Maryland in Congress.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen slammed Trump for talking about a new “golden age” in America during his inauguration, with billionaire tech moguls “sitting in the front row. “He wants it for THEM — not for working people.”

Rep. Johnny Olszewski said the Trump administration’s removal of reproductiverights.gov escalates an assault on reproductive rights that is “unacceptable.”

But Rep. Andy Harris, the lone Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, cheered Trump’s actions on border security, DEI and more. “‘Diversity, equity, and inclusion’ is a kind of woke discrimination that has no place in healthcare, science, or our government,” he said in a statement. “It is contrary to the principles held dear in America.”

What has Trump accomplished in his second term so far? And will his bold moves continue?

Here’s a closer look at Trump’s boldest and most significant actions since his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Immigration

Illegal immigration has been Trump’s signature issue for nearly a decade, and his push to secure the U.S.-Mexico border while ridding the country of dangerous criminals has received extensive coverage this week.

U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) began its widespread deportation operations Tuesday, which led to the arrest of hundreds of migrants living in major cities. Trump border czar Tom Homan says the administration is focusing on the most egregious offenders first, such as those with criminal records who have outstanding deportation orders.

As for incoming migrants, the restoration of Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy will require them to wait for asylum hearings on the Mexican side of the border. Construction of his long-promised border wall will also continue, thanks to an executive order titled “Securing Our Borders.”

Trump also moved to declare the border situation to be a national emergency, which allows him to authorize an increased U.S. military presence in the area. The president also seems poised to act against the Mexican cartels trafficking drugs and people across the border, as a separate executive order formally designated them as foreign terrorist organizations.

Finally, and perhaps most controversially, Trump issued an order that could strip U.S. citizenship from the children of some undocumented people. This action has already been challenged in a lawsuit filed by at least 22 Democratic attorneys general, who argue Trump lacks the authority to nullify a right to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked the executive order and called it “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Government reform

Following through on a campaign promise, Trump issued an executive order to create a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The new executive branch advisory body will be led by world’s richest man Elon Musk, but fellow tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will not participate in DOGE after being expected to co-lead it alongside Musk.

Employment in the federal government is undergoing serious changes under Trump, who directed federal agencies to freeze all new hiring. The administration also issued a memo mandating that federal employees return to the office five days per week after working partially or entirely from home for much of the Joe Biden era.

Broader Trump orders focus on the “restoration of freedom of speech and preventing government censorship” and ending “the weaponization of government against political adversaries. The latter order mandates a review of law enforcement and intelligence agencies under Biden and authorizes recommendations for “appropriate remedial actions.”

Race and gender

By executive order, Trump declared the U.S. will recognize “two sexes, male and female.” He is also no fan of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and issued another order shutting down all DEI programs within the federal government.

Trump allies say the move will restore “merit-based” practices without considering a person’s demographic information in hiring. But opponents, like Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, say axing DEI programs amounts to removing long-guaranteed protection for racial minorities.

“Everyone should be concerned with not just the executive order around birthright citizenship, but the ones that are eliminating particular things that President (Lyndon B.) Johnson set up to make sure that there were protections for folks — especially folks that look like you and I,” Scott, who is Black, told a Black reporter at a news conference Wednesday.

Johnson, who served as president from 1963 to 1969, was instrumental in signing major civil rights initiatives to advance racial equality — such as Executive Order 11246 in 1965, which Congress expanded on by passing the Equal Opportunity Employment Act in 1972. Johnson’s order, which required federal contractors to take affirmative action in hiring, was reversed by Trump on Wednesday.

Foreign policy

Trump 2.0 made his first appearance on the global stage Thursday, as he spoke virtually to elites attending the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

“My message to every business in the world is very simple: Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on Earth,” Trump said. “But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff.”

Trump used the opportunity to express his frustration with high oil prices, calling on the Saudi Arabia-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower prices — thus undercutting Russian energy and potentially forcing Vladimir Putin to call off Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Trump’s other foreign policy degrees seem to promote a shift toward American isolationism. By two executive orders, he authorized the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization.

Pardons

Trump raised some eyebrows Monday by issuing full pardons for nearly 1,600 of his supporters who were convicted of various offenses related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. At least 600 of those pardoned were charged with assaulting or impeding federal law enforcement officers, including members of far-right groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.

Trump also announced a full pardon for Ross Ulbricht, whose dark website, Silk Road, allowed for the sale of illegal drugs. A New York narcotics and money laundering sting led to Ulbricht’s conviction in 2015, a case that pro-Trump Libertarian Party members called an example of government overreach.

Trump’s pardons came just hours after outgoing President Joe Biden issued unconditional pardons dating back to 2014 for Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley and five members of his own family.

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