Trump’s blizzard of first-day actions leaves opponents scrambling to respond | Donald Trump

The United States woke up to a changed political and cultural landscape the Tuesday afterward Donald Trump He punctuated his political comeback with a storm of executive orders on day one to fulfill his central election promises while promising there was more to come.

Official Washington appeared shocked after the returning president pledged that “nothing will stand in our way” in his self-declared campaign to end American “decline.” This announcement – ​​in his inaugural address, whose combative tone seemed to confirm his earlier pledge to be a “dictator from day one” – was followed by the sweeping scope of his executive orders that left opponents scrambling to respond.

Even more shocking — if not unexpected — is the issuance of 1,600 pardons to rioters involved in the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters intent on overturning the 2020 presidential result and keeping him in power.

They included prominent members of two far-right militias, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, who were jailed for sedition.

Hours after billionaire businessman Elon Musk, Trump’s richest supporter and patron, made a gesture that closely resembled a fascist salute, it seemed ominous symbolism of a new national mood.

Equally important has been a barrage of new policies, including executive orders to withdraw from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, orders declaring a national emergency to enable the deployment of troops to the southern border and cutting off a U.S. constitutional right to citizenship. Children of non-citizens.

In another move that signaled an intent to reshape the government bureaucracy in Washington — which Trump has often derided as part of the anti-Trump “deep state” — he signed an order requiring a federal hiring freeze and all federal workers must stop working from home and return to their homes. Offices.

Another order rescinded Biden-era diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies for racially disadvantaged communities and to combat discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. This came after his anti-transgender declaration in his inaugural speech, when he said: “As of today, the official policy of the United States government from now on will be that there are only two sexes, male and female.”

This came on the heels of a speech that had previously been described as more optimistic than his famous 2017 “American Carnage” speech, but that was conspicuously lacking in the exhortations to fight for freedom and democracy that have appeared in previous inaugural addresses by other presidents.

Many commentators said Trump’s message more closely resembled the State of the Union address than the inaugural address, which often features loud rhetoric while being light on policy and political content.

By contrast, Trump has promised a “new golden age of American greatness” that would include restoring the Panama Canal and giving the Gulf of Mexico the new name of America’s Gulf.

While watching, Hillary Clinton, Trump’s defeated rival in his 2016 election win, was seen to affect uproarious laughter.

But with more orders awaited – Trump indicated on Monday that he was preparing to impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, America’s two closest trading partners, effective February 1 – such leniency appears forced.

Across Washington, at the Pentagon, staff more accurately reflected the new mood by removing a recently installed photo of Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — a staunch Trump critic who has called him “fascist to the core.” – Just hours after Joe Biden, in his last act as president, included him among a group of enemies of the new president up for pardon.