Trump Signs Raft of Executive Orders on Day 1 

US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)
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Trump Signs Raft of Executive Orders on Day 1 

US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including pardons for defendants from the January 6th riots and a delay on the TikTok ban, on the first day of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. (EPA)

On the first day of his new term, President Donald Trump signed orders ranging from climate to immigration, along with sweeping pardons for many of those who stormed the capital on January 6, 2021.

Some of his orders delivered on promises he made during the 2024 campaign. Others, like a withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), had not been expected.

Here is a summary of the orders Trump signed at a Washington arena packed with supporters, and later at the White House, after he was sworn in as president.

- Immigration -

Trump signed various orders aimed at reshaping how the United States manages immigration and citizenship.

One declared a national emergency at the southern border.

Trump also promised a mass deportation operation involving the military, which he says will target those he called "criminal aliens."

In the Oval Office, Trump signed an order revoking birthright citizenship.

But automatic US citizenship to people born in the country is enshrined in the Constitution, and Trump's action is certain to face a legal challenge.

- January 6 rioters -

Trump signed pardons for some of the 1,500 participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters trying to overturn the 2020 election.

He again referred to those who were convicted or pleaded guilty over the riots as "hostages."

- Paris Climate accord -

The president immediately withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord, repeating an action he took during his first term.

The order extends Trump's defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

It would take a year to leave the agreement after submitting a formal notice to the United Nations framework that underpins global climate negotiations.

- Oil drilling -

Trump signed an order declaring a "national energy emergency" aimed at significantly expanding drilling in the world's top oil and gas producer.

"We will drill, baby, drill," Trump said in his inaugural address.

- Work from home -

Another order requires federal workers to return to the office full-time, with Trump seeking to undo most of the work-from-home allowances that flourished during the Covid-19 pandemic.

- Leaving WHO -

Trump signed an order for the United States to exit the World Health Organization, insisting Washington was unfairly paying more than China into the UN body.

- TikTok -

The president ordered a 75-day pause on enforcing a law that would effectively ban TikTok.

His action delayed implementation of an act that came into effect this week, prohibiting the distribution and updating of TikTok in the United States.

Trump has said the app's Chinese parent company must agree to sell a fifty percent share to the United States.

- West Bank settlers -

Trump revoked sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank accused of abuses against Palestinians, undoing an unprecedented action taken by Joe Biden's administration.

- Cuba -

Reversing another one of Biden's more recent moves, Trump removed Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.

Biden had removed Cuba from the list only days earlier as part of a deal to free prisoners.



Zelenskiy Says Post-war Security Guarantee Would Need at Least 200,000 Peacekeepers

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Says Post-war Security Guarantee Would Need at Least 200,000 Peacekeepers

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is seeking a meeting with US President Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that a contingent of at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed as part of any settlement to end the war with Russia.

The Ukrainian leader, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland a day after Trump returned to power following months of promises to end the war in Ukraine quickly, also urged European leaders to do more to defend the continent.

The prospect of a rapid settlement has focused minds in Kyiv and Europe on the urgent need for security guarantees to prevent any future Russian attack, with the idea of peacekeeping contingent force circulating.

"From all the Europeans? 200,000, it's a minimum. It's a minimum, otherwise it's nothing," Zelenskiy said when asked about the idea of a peacekeeping mission on an interview panel after delivering his speech.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine was working to set up a meeting between him and Trump.

"The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process," Zelenskiy said about those efforts.

Trump, who returned to office on Monday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly, without saying how.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its armed forces to a fifth of their size.

"This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen," Zelenskiy said.

In his speech, Zelenskiy said Europe must make itself a strong global player, able to guarantee peace and security for itself and for others. He suggested Europe had less influence over Washington because the United States viewed its allies' contribution to security as lacking.

"Does anyone in the United States worry that Europe might abandon them someday – might stop being their ally? The answer is no," Zelenskiy said.

He said that Europeans needed to devise a united security and defense policy and alluded to a pre-inauguration remark by Trump, who proposed a massive hike in defense spending for NATO members to 5% of GDP.

"If it takes 5% of GDP to cover defense, then so be it, 5% it is. And there is no need to play with people's emotions that defense should be compensated at the expense of medicine or pensions – that's not fair," Zelenskiy said.