Summary of Trumps first few days.

Thought it would be useful to list his actions, without hyperbole or superlatives 😄

Issued pardons for people involved in the January 6 attack

What happened: Trump issued pardons for about 1,500 people who were involved in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, shocking even some of his allies.
Those pardoned include more than 250 people who were convicted of assault, some of them having attacked police officers with makeshift weapons.
What it means: Far-right, racist factions will feel emboldened, and their online chat groups have been full of celebratory chatter in recent days.
After his release, one of the most serious offenders tied to the insurrection, Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, indicated he had rejoined the all-male group and sought “retribution”.
“I’m happy that the president’s focusing not on retribution and focusing on success, but I will tell you that I’m not going to play by those rules,” he said.

Left the World Health Organization and suspended foreign aid

What happened: The Trump administration announced the US would leave the World Health Organization (WHO) and suspended all foreign aid for three months.
What it means: The move puts critical humanitarian work in jeopardy and threatens the global fight against infectious diseases. Washington is the single biggest financial backer of the UN global public health agency.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health law at Georgetown University, said Trump “could be sowing the seeds for the next pandemic”.

Backed ‘biblical’ Israeli claims to Palestinian land

What happened: Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the UN endorsed Israeli claims of “biblical rights” to the entire occupied West Bank. When New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik was asked on Tuesday if she backed the far-right Israeli “biblical” claims to Palestinian territory it occupied, she responded: “Yes.”
What it means: The view is a wholesale acceptance of claims based on religious interpretations that would leave millions of Palestinians stateless and landless. Israel is fighting accusations of genocide against Palestinians in an international court.
Trump has also rescinded US sanctions on far-right Jewish settler groups and individuals accused of involvement in violence against Palestinians. His nominee for ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, previously laid a ceremonial brick in an Israeli settlement and said he might one day buy a “holiday home” there.

Withdrew from the Paris climate agreement

What happened: On his first day back as president, Trump signed an executive order in front of supporters at an arena in Washington to quit the Paris
climate agreement for a second time. It will take about a year for the withdrawal to be formalised. Officials also plan to fast-track permits for new fossil fuel projects.
What it means: The US is the world’s second-biggest emitter of planet-heating pollution. The Paris agreement seeks to prevent the world hitting temperatures that would result in disastrous heatwaves, floods, storms and fires, such as those that have been ravaging Los Angeles.

Launched a war on immigrants – and their children

What happened: Trump declared a “national emergency” related to immigration, paving the way to send US troops to the southern border with Mexico.
The president also targeted people already in the country by seeking to cancel automatic citizenship for some US-born children, known as birthright.
What it means: A legal challenge has already been launched as birthright citizenship is protected under the 14th amendment. The executive order is the subject of several lawsuits by civil rights groups, and on Thursday a federal judge in Seattle blocked the administration from implementing the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional”.
The attorney general of California, Rob Bonta, said Trump had “overreached by a mile”.

Cancelled travel for refugees, including those approved to resettle in US

What happened: One of Trump’s first actions as president was to suspend a refugee admissions programme for people who have fled war and persecution.
What it means: Thousands of refugees who had gone through a sometimes years-long vetting process to start new lives in the US are now stranded at various locations worldwide. Some already had flights booked.
The programme included more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted the US war effort there, as well as the relatives of active-duty US military personnel.

Recommitted to the death penalty

What happened: Trump has committed to pursue federal death sentences and pledged to ensure that states had sufficient supplies of lethal injection drugs for executions.
What it means: The order promises the attorney general will seek capital punishment for “all crimes of a severity demanding its use”.
Experts say the order is filled with vague rhetoric, and that it could be unconstitutional, infringe defendants’ rights and intrude on state laws.

Ignited fear when Elon Musk appeared to make fascist salutes

What happened: Elon Musk, Trump’s closest billionaire backer and Tesla owner, ignited controversy when he gave back-to-back, fascist-style salutes during inauguration celebrations.
Musk later responded to criticisms of his behaviour on X, tweeting: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is soo tired.”
What it means: The salutes caused domestic and international alarm, especially in Germany, where Musk has backed the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party in next month’s federal elections.

Got told off by a bishop

What happened:
The bishop of Washington, the Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, looked Trump in the eye on Tuesday and appealed directly to him to “have mercy upon” communities across the country targeted by the new administration’s immigration and LGBTQ+ policies.
What it means: Budde was praised for confronting Trump directly when many others have kept silent.
After the sermon, the president attacked Budde online, labelling her a “Trump hater” and describing her tone as “nasty”.
Budde told reporters she would not apologise for her remarks. “I don’t hate the president, and I pray for him,” she told NPR.

Warned Joe Biden he should have pardoned himself

What happened: In an interview with Fox News, the US president said Joe Biden should have pardoned himself – a lightly veiled threat that he would go after the former president.
“Joe Biden has very bad advisers. Somebody advised Joe Biden to give pardons to everybody but him … Joe Biden had very bad advice,” Trump said.
What it means: Biden used the last day of his presidency to issue pre-emptive pardons to politicians, public servants and even his family members to guard against what he said were “threats” by the incoming administration.
The outgoing president said there was a threat of “revenge” through criminal prosecution. But he left himself off the list of people being pardoned.

Put anti-discrimination government staff on leave

What happened: Federal employees in departments that work to halt discrimination were put on paid leave.
Under the executive order, the White House said it would scrap all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, positions, plans, actions, initiatives or programmes within 60 days.
The Trump administration also fired the US Coast Guard commandant, Adm Linda Lee Fagan, the first female uniformed leader of an armed forces branch.
What it means: Over the past few years, the DEI issue has become a culture war flashpoint. During his presidential campaign, Trump echoed conservative attacks against DEI, saying there was “a definite anti-white feeling in this country”.
The move will halt progress in efforts to tackle racial and gender-based discrimination.

Denied transgender rights (and banned flags)

What happened: Federal agencies issuing passports, visas and other official government documents have been ordered to only allow male and female as options.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” the new president said during his inaugural address on Monday.
What it means: Rights advocates say the DEI and transgender rights rollbacks will stall hard-fought policies and undermine progress made to address systemic failures that have deprived equal opportunities for marginalised groups for decades.
In a related move, the US Department of State has banned consular posts from flying any flags other than that of the US. A cable seen by the Guardian titled “One flag policy” appears to target several instances when gay pride and Black Lives Matters flags were flown at embassies abroad.

Changed a couple of names

What happened: In his inaugural speech, Trump repeated his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
He also said he would change the name of Denali, a 20,310ft mountain in Alaska and the highest peak in North America, to Mount McKinley, as it was called before Barack Obama changed it in 2015.
What it means: In theory, Trump’s action would be sufficient to change the names in official documents within the US, but other countries would not be obliged to follow suit.
At the very least, it will frustrate US cartographers.

Grateful thanks to

The Guardian 25/01/25